
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 


Cliap.&.\,5,Y]opyright No. 

Shelf_l33... 

UN!TED STATES OF AMERICA. 






GOING ABROAD? 

SOME ADVICE 




By ROBERT LUCE 


BOSTON 

ROBERT AND LINN LUCE 
1900 


*rwo Copies receivi^d, 

Library of 

Uffics of th« 

M^vp81900 

HesUtsr of Copyrigitg, 

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59088 


SECOND COPY, 


COPYRIGHT, 1897, 
BY 

ROBERT LUCE. 


COPYRIGHT, 1900, 
BY 

ROBERT LUCE. 


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L3S 


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CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER I. 

WHY, WHO, AND WHEN TO GO . . . . 

Age and Sex, 7 ; Seasons and Climates, 10. 

CHAPTER II. 

WHERE TO GO 

For Sight-seeing, 23 ; In Search of Health, 29. 

CHAPTER III. 

HOW TO GO 

The Fast and the Slow Trip, 35 ; Life on Shipboard, 
38; Choosing a Cabin, 40; Seasickness, 42; Fees, 
Meals, etc., 44 ; Working a Passage, 50. 

CHAPTER IV. 

HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD 

Sleeping, Dining and Smoking, 58 ; Rail Detail, 60 ; 
Trunks and Luggage, 63 ; Fares and Tickets, 66 ; By 
Boat, 69; By Vehicle, 74; On Foot, 79. 

CHAPTER V. 

BICYCLE TOURING 

Touring Clubs, 88 ; The Wheel and Its Parts, 95 ; Prep- 
arations for the Trip, 101 ; Comment on Countries, 
105; En Route, 116; Transportation of Bicycles, 122. 

CHAPTER VI. 

HOW TO STAY 

In European Hotels, 127 ; As to Hotel Bills, 129; In 
Pensions, 141 ; In Lodgings, 144 ; Housekeeping, 146 ; 
Study in the Universities, 158; Language Study, 163; 
Music, Art, and Other Studies, 166 ; Fees, 168. 


PAGE 

5 


22 


35 


53 


86 


125 


iv 


CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 

HOW TO SEE 177 

f CHAPTER VIII. 

SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL 184 

Letters of Credit, 185 ; Currency, 188 ; Going Through 
Customs Houses, 192 ; Foreign Prices, 198 ; Where to 
Buy Specialties to Advantage, 199 ; Souvenirs and Pho- 
tography, 205 ; Post, Express and Telegraph, 208. 

CHAPTER IX. 

PERSONALITIES 216 

Baggage, 217 ; The Little Things, 220; Clothing, 222; 

Food and Drink, 228 ; Tobacco, 230 ; Manners and 
Customs, 231. 

CHAPTER X. 

SOMEWHAT LITERARY 238 

Learning a Language, 239 ; Guide Books, 243 ; His- 
torical and Place Novels, 249; Preparatory Reading, 

253. 

APPENDIX 255 

Where to Find Famous Works of Art, 255 ; Summary 
of Expenses, 258 ; Weights and Measures, 260 ; Funnel 
Marks, House Flags, and Night Signals, 261 ; Ocean 
Distances, 262 ; London to Paris, 263 ; Points of the 
Compass, 263 ; Table of Distances, 264 ; Speed of 
Mail Steamers, 265 ; Money Table, 266 ; Thermome- 
ters, 266 ; Distance Objects are Visible at Sea, 266 ; 
•Difference in Time, 266. 


INDEX 


267 




QOINQ ABROAD? 


CHAPTER I. 

WHY, WHO, AND WHEN TO GO. 

It may be assumed that most people who will read 
this, want to go to Europe and know why they want to go. 
It is hardly worth while to waste any time over the man who 
has no desire to see the land of his ancestors, to view the 
scenes made familiar by the pen of the historian, the story- 
teller, or the poet, to enjoy the art treasures of the Old 
World. If a thousand books of travel, if lectures and letters 
innumerable, if the enthusiasms of home-coming tourists 
have not aroused a longing to cross the Atlantic, it would 
be futile for me to try where the most potent of human 
influences have failed. 

My province, then, should be to aid those who want to 
go and can go, but do not know just how, when, and where 
to go; to encourage those who really have the means to 
go, but fear they cannot afford it; to save time, vexation, 
and money for those who have decided to go, but lack 
experience of their own and have no experienced friends 
from whom to get the desirable information. It is possible, 
also, that aid can be given even to those who have talked 
the matter over with the most expert of tourists, for rare 
is the man who, having done a thing himself, can remember 
all the doubts and uncertainties that perplexed him before 
he did it. Any feat accomplished seems easy enough after- 
ward. Then, too, mole-hills for one man may be moun- 
tains for his successor. So, though I set myself deliberately 
to conveying all the information on this topic that may 
occur to me as likely to be useful, I may omit answers to 


6 


GOING ABROAD? 


many questions that mig^ht be asked. But it is tolerably cer- 
tain that I shall answer more than any questioner would 
be likely to think of in one conversation. 

To advance reasons why anybody should go to Europe 
may be dispensed with, but it may not be useless to advise 
you to know yourself why you are going, to have your 
object clearly defined in your own mind. Surely your trip 
cannot be intelligently planned if you are misty as to its 
purpose, and surely it would be foolish to devote some 
months of your life, possibly some years, to an expedition 
without definite aim. To be sure, travel for its own sake is 
beneficial, as all wise men have agreed from time imme- 
morial. “Home-keeping youth have ever homely wits,” and 
though travel will not make a gem out of a pebble, nothing 
else will so quickly cut the facets of a diamond mind. 
It is, then, far from useless to journey through a foreign 
land with no other idea than to enjoy its scenery, its build- 
ings, and its art, to observe the customs of its people, and 
to live for a while a5 they live. Yet there is greater satisfac- 
tion in returning with the belief that you have done some- 
thing, however little it may be, toward mastering some one 
branch of knowledge. The purposeless traveler with any 
desire at all for self-improvement may come home conscious 
that he is a wiser and a broader and a more cultured man 
than when he went away, but his conscience will not be 
wholly satisfied if he cannot say to himself, “I can speak a 
foreign language now,” or, “I can now tell what is a hand- 
some church, and why it is a handsome church,” or, “I have 
learned something of the rudiments of singing,” or some- 
thing else. 

Of course, a hasty trip gives little chance for study, and 

no one object can be pursued systematically in even a long 

trip, unless you stay in one place time enough to go at it 

✓ ' 

earnestly; yet if, for example, you have read up some on 
architecture before going abroad, six weeks’ observation in 
Continental cities will at least fix in your mind what you 
have read. 

If the object of the trip be simply rest and recreation, 
it is still worth while to remember that you have an object. 


7 


WHY, WHO, AND WHEN TO GO. 

What can be more absurd for a man worn out by the whirl 
of New York than to jump into the whirl of London or 
Paris! Or for the woman exhausted by the social functions 
of her home city than to harass herself with preparations for 
presentation at Court! 

More pertinent than moralizing on how not to rest, will 
be the suggestion that an ocean trip with 'a few weeks of 
foreign travel may prove the most health-giving change a 
tired man or woman can find. Hundreds of people go 
abroad every year for that alone, and believe it the most 
delightful vacation they can take. 

As a vacation, it is not so very much more costly than 
one of the same sort at home. We will go into details of 
expense later, but it may be said here that it costs no more 
to take a two months’ trip abroad than to put two months 
into making the tour of America’s watering places; or, if 
staying in one spot is preferred, th-e extra cost of a European 
vacation over that of one in the States, is never more than 
the expense of going and coming, and is usually much less. 
It is probably cheaper to go to Europe than to go to Florida 
for anything more than a month; and certainly is less ex- 
pensive than to go to Southern California. 

AGE AND SEX. 

As for age, nobody not in the first or second childhood 
is too young or too old to profit by a European trip. Any 
boy or girl of talking age will pick up a foreign language 
with an ease and celerity astonishing to the adult, and will 
thus profit to a degree well worth the pains of taking a child 
a-journeying. When the young person is old enough to be 
left at boarding school, a year in one where foreign lan- 
guages are spoken will accomplish as much as two years 
at home, if the languages are to be deemed an important 
part of education. Many youths have with profit substituted 
a year at some German university for one year of the course 
at Harvard or Yale. Of course for advanced students the 
benefit of foreign universities is incalculable. 

The notion that young men who have wild oats to sow 
can do it more readily abroad than at home, is not sustained 


8 


GOING ABROAD? 


by the facts. Everywhere on the Continent the rational use 
of beer and wine is a safe-guard for youth more than a temp- 
tation to it. Of course there is drunkenness, but I am 
inclined to the belief that the young American by himself 
abroad, while learning little of abstinence, learns more of 
temperance and self-control than when thrown on his own 
resources in an American city. 

There is no more chance to get gambling habits in Paris 
or London, than in New York or Chicago. In the university 
towns gambling is as rare as in our own colleges. 

In the matter of chastity, European and American 
notions differ radically, and though not more than in other 
large cities perhaps, there are as many Trilbys in Paris as 
ever, but intimate acquaintance with many young men who 
have gone to Europe to study, leads me to assert with con- 
fidence that they seldom forget Puritanical teachings, and 
that any fellow with brains enough to profit by a foreign 
trip can be as safely trusted on one side of the water as on 
the other. 

Apart from the matter of study, to my mind the Euro- 
pean trip brings most profit to the man or woman of 
mature years, yet not beyond the learning period. Of course, 
there are many people who keep their minds in the receptive 
condition to the very last, people who will take up Greek 
at 50, and plunge into calculus at 70. Yet most people, by 
the time they get into what is called the prime of life, have 
their habits of thought so settled, their prejudices so rooted, 
their ambitions so satisfied, that travel, if undertaken for the 
first time, has comparatively slight educating influence. El- 
derly people, too, who have never traveled, may find it 
hard to accommodate themselves to the change in their daily 
routine, and the frictions of journeying sometimes try their 
patience and temper undul}q though it is the fact that women 
from 55 to 70 often accommodate themselves to circum- 
stances more cheerfully than many of the younger people. 

The matter of sex need not affect in the slightest the 
question of foreign travel. If an American girl wants to 
study art, music, or languages, and has the means, there is 
not the least reason why she should not go alone to Paris or 

j 


WHY, WHO, AND WHEN TO GO. 


9 


Berlin or Vienna to do, it. Under like conditions there is no 
greater fear of insult abroad than at home. The only differ- 
ence I have ever heard of, is that in Europe young unmarried 
woimen with regard for their reputations do not go out in the 
evening without escort, but the same thing is true of the 
larger cities here. English women think nothing of taking 
their vacations on the Continent. 

In the mere matter of travel ^Europe offers in some ways 
more comfort and convenience than America to women jour- 
neying alone or in parties without men. They need never 
touch their luggage unless they choose. At hotels and rail- 
way stations they will always be more courteously treated 
than men, — and that is saying a good deal. The railway cars 
have separate compartments for women. Cabs abound every- 
where. 

To make foreign travel still easier, there exists an ad- 
mirable organization called the Women’s Rest Tour Asso- 
ciation, which may be addressed at 264 Boylston Street, 
Boston. “Its object is to furnish women who wish to travel 
for purposes of rest and study, with such practical advice 
and encouragement as shall enable them to do so independ- 
ently, intelligently, and economically. It is not designed 
for the convenience of women who organize or condutt 
large parties.” And it may be added that it i-s in no way 
a money-^making institution, there being neither salaries nor 
dividends for anybody in it. Mrs. Julia Ward Howe is the 
president, and other well-known New England women are 
on the board of officers. It publishes a handbook of travel, 
entitled “A Summer in England” (to which I would here 
give credit for some of the information hereafter given); 
issues yearly a ^revised list of accredited lodgings and pen- 
sions .over all Europe, with details concerning prices and 
accommodation: publisihes an occasional paper called The 
Pilgrim Scrip, devoted *to travel and life abroad; exchanges 
introductions between m mbers who desire company; lends 
money from its traveling fund (under careful supervision) 
to provide vacation trip's for women greatly in need of rest 
and change; advises in regard to travel; lends from its 
library of Baedeker guide-books for the European trip; and 


10 


GOING ABROAD? 


in minor ways accomplishes its laudable purpose. The fee 
for the first year’s membership is $2; annual fee thereafter, 
$i ; life membership, $25. If but a small part of the wealthy 
American women who get enjoyment out of a trip abroad, 
would, by becoming life members of this Association, aid it 
in helping their less fortunate sisters to the same enjoyment, 
its sphere of usefulness could be greatly widened. 

SEASONS AND CLIMATES. 

If it is for a vacation that the trip is to be made, un- 
doubtedly the best time to go is in the early summer. 
Europe on the whole is cooler than the United States, and 
of course two or three weeks on the ocean save just so much 
of the discomforts of dog-days. Switzerland in July and 
August is to Europe what the White Mountains are to New 
England, and at the same season Scotland, Norway, Sweden, 
and Russia are delightful. But the difference in temperature 
between most of Central Europe and the United States in 
summer is not enough to make it worth while going there 
at that time for climatic reasons alone. 

Many a wise American who can take his vacation when 
he will, endures the heat of the city during mid-summer, 
and then ranges the mountains, the sea-shore, or the woods 
in early autumn. Others find the most good in seeking the 
trout brooks when the grass and foliage are freshest, when 
the drain of a hard winter on the system has made the air 
of April or May most delightful to a physique exhausted by 
the fight with our Northern winter. So, too, if one is to go 
abroad simply for physical good, it may be wisest to go not 
when the climate left at home is at its worst, but when the 
climate reached on the other side is at its best. 

• As many people, by reasons of the limitations of a busi 
ness or profession, must go in June if at all, and return in 
August or September, the steamers are then most crowded. 
Therefore their owners not improperly charge a higher rate 
across in the late spring and early summer, a higher rate 
back in the late summer and early fall. In spite of this 
the demand for berths is so great that they must be engaged 
weeks or even months in advance, unless the tourist can run 


WHY, WHO, AND WHEN TO GO. 


II 


the risk of getting at the last moment some berth that has 
been given up, when he may be lucky enough to secure the 
best of accommodations. 

From November to April there is usually plenty of 
room, and travelers to whom crossing is an old story fre- 
quently take no more precautions than they would to secure 
a berth in a sleeping car for Chicago or St. Louis. In the 
winter, payment for a single berth usually secures a whole 
stateroom to yourself, and you have practically the pick of 
the boat. Sometimes on the smaller boats there will not be 
half a dozen first cabin passengers. 

From the point of view of both economy and comfort, 
then, it is wiser if practicable to travel when the winter rates 
are in force. The fear of stormy weather doubtless deters 
many people from doing this, but the fact is that though 
the chances of severe storms are greater in winter than in 
summer, they are not enough greater to cut any figure with 
those who cross repeatedly. This matter of storms is largely 
one of luck. Crossing in January, I have left New York in a 
snow-storm, and on no day afterward had the mercury 
register below 55, only to hear within a week after 
reaching the other side that for days after we left New York 
every steamer entered th?t port ice-clad, and several were 
seriously delayed. That was the trip when I vowed I never 
again would take an ulster across, and yet even in August 
the thickest of ulsters is sometimes none too warm in mid- 
ocean. The icebergs are plentiful in spring, and no doubt 
it is dangerous to scrape acquaintance with an iceberg, yet 
to delay a trip through fear of icebergs would be about as 
sensible as to refuse to travel on a railroad in a thaw be- 
cause the roadbed gets loose more frequerttly then than at 
other times. 

It should be said that the steamers which run from New 
York to Mediterranean ports in winter are as crowded as 
those that run to Liverpool, Southampton, etc., in summer. 
The winter rates to Genoa correspond with the summer 
rates to Hamburg and Bremen, so that in this regard 
nothing is to be saved by winter travel, but undoubtedly 
the southern passage is the milder, and with less storms. 


12 


GOING ABROAD? 


On the other side, too, winter travel has many advan- 
tages over that of summer. The trains are seldom half full, 
and it is a rarity when a couple cannot get a compartment 
to themselves, if they want it. The hotels are less crowded, 
and you average better accommodations for the same 
money. You see the sights more at your ease. 

If the society life of London and Paris has attractions, 
the late spring is the time for you to study it. The London 
“Season,” as it is called, theoretically begins after Easter 
and lasts till August 12. It is at its height in June, when 
come the Ascot races, with their royal processions. But 
to the stranger without letters of introduction or any way 
of getting inside the doors of “society,” perhaps during the 
“season” may not be the best time for visiting London. 
All the hotels are then crowded, and that is a nuisance to 
the traveler. Good places at the theatres are hard to get, 
the museums and galleries are thronged, the shop-keepers 
are rushed. To be sure, the climate is then most propitious; 
you can see royalty and nobility and gentry at the races 
and in the parks; ladies who want to study the styles get 
plenty of chance; people who like a bustle and a crowd can 
gratify their tastes. But to one who wants to see London 
itself, to learn the ways of its people, to study its collections, 
its buildings, its administration, or any of its serious phases, 
the “season” is not the most propitious season. In mid- 
winter the climate is not attractive. Fogs are often a 
nuisance, and when there is no fog, it is usually bleak, wet, 
and what the English call nasty. Perhaps, then, the fall 
and early spring are the best times in which to visit London. 

In France the conditions are somewhat different. To 
be sure, Paris, too, has its season (coming about the same 
time as the London season and ending earlier), but the 
wealthy Frenchman makes Paris his home, taking his vaca- 
tions in the country, and many wealthy Englishmen, per- 
haps the majority, live in the country, taking their vacations 
in London, so that Parisian hotels are not so crowded as 
London hotels in May and June. In those months the 
climate of Paris is charming, the Bois de Boulogne is at 
its best, all the parks are delightful, the two Salons are 


WHY, WHO, AND WHEN TO GO. 13 

open, and the conditions are the most satisfactory for every 
kind of sight-seeing. 

The spring and fall are undoubtedly the best times for 
Italy. The winters, to be sure, are nominally mild; snow 
is a rarity in Naples, and seldom stays long in Rome, Flor- 
ence, or Venice; and the thermometer calls few days frigid. 
But the mercury lies in Italy. When it registers 50, you 
suffer more than with it at 20 in America, — not in the sun, 
of course, but on the shady side of the street and indoors. 
It is the damp, penetrating chill, of a kind to which few 
Americans are accustomed. The houses are all of stone, 
designed to be cool in summer rather than warm in winter, 
and they are wretchedly heated. Steam-heat is unknown; 
the occasional stove is a wretched failure; and most of the 
fire-places smoke. Wood is expensive, and always charged 
for if burnt in one’s own room. Even with a blazing fire 
in the fire-place, the chamber has a clearly-defined torrid, 
temperate, and frigid zone. There is seldom any attempt to 
warm the museums and galleries. 

Do not, however, get the idea that Italy is unendurable 
in winter. It has charms at every season of the year, and 
its January is certainly more comfortable than a Boston or 
New York January. But it is not Paradise. 

The warmest parts of Italy visited by the ordinary tour- 
ist are two Rivieras (shores), one commonly called the 
Riviera, running from Nice to Genoa, where lie Mentone, 
Monte Carlo, San Remo, etc,; the other a still more beautiful 
coast, on the sunny side of the rocky promontory that 
bounds the Bay of Naples on the South, of which Amalfi 
is the gem. The Riviera from Nice to Genoa is sheltered 
from cold north winds by the barrier of the Alps, is full in 
the face of the sun, and often does not see a snow-storm 
for years. Semi-tropical plants grow freely, and the tem- 
perature is so mild that many victims of lung troubles are 
sent there to convalesce, or die. It has hotels innumerable, 
which are for the most part well filled during the first four 
months of the year. Queen Victoria usually goes there 
for some weeks in the early spring, and it abounds with 
royalty and nobility. 


14 


GOING ABROAD? 


Save in such sheltered spots as San Remo or Venti- 
miglia, the scenery of Italy is naturally at its worst in winter, 
for then the landscape is brown and bare. It is at its best 
in April and May, before the sun has begun to burn up 
things. May is certainly the best month for tl e Italian 
Lakes, unless one prefers to go in October, when the fruit 
is ripe and the weather usually delightful. June is a charm- 
ing month at Venice, though some oI its days are uncom- 
fortably warm; later on, the canals get stale and sour. The 
summer temperature in Vienna averages about the same as 
that of Louisville, Ky. Indeed, the Italian summer is much 
like that of Kentucky or Virginia, endurable enough, but 
less comfortable than the spring. In July and August the 
thermometer at Rome averages almost exactly the same 
register as in Washington. Few of the army of American 
tourists then go south of Florence, but European travelers, 
and especially Germans, think nothing of visiting Rome in 
July or August, and I have met people who declared they 
suffered no inconvenience at Naples in dog-days. Their 
sense of smell must have been impaired, for the odors of an 
Italian city in summer are not delightful. 

The notion that Rome must not be visited in summer 
on account of the malaria in the Campagna is no longer 
supported by those in a position to speak -with authority. 
Of course it is dangerous to promenade after dark on the 
Campagna, just as it is in a Western river bottom, or any- 
where else that malaria abounds, but tourists do not prom- 
enade on the Campagna after dark, nor do they drive across 
it after dark, as they often did before the time of railroads, 
when I suspect it was that Rome got its bad name as a 
summer resort. It does not yet deserve a good name, but it 
is no worse than our Southern States in the summer months, 
and if a tourist cannot well go south of Florence at any 
other time, there is little except the dread of perspiration to 
keep him from going in July or August. 

Rome is healthy in the autumn, common report to the 
contrary notwithstanding. Its October is about as warm 
as that of Georgia. The autumn is a good time for Italy 
generally; and traveling is muoh more comfortable than in 


WHY, WHO, ^ND WHEN TO GO. 


15 


the spring, as the trains and hotels are less crowded. In 
October the vineyards are in their glory. 

Sicily has an annual temperature averaging close to that 
of South Carolina. Its climate is somewhat humid. 

Switzerland, for the passing tourist, is of course to be 
visited in summer, and in August rather than in June or 
July, if any mountain climbing is to be done, for while the 
snows are melting in early summer, the heights are the 
more dangerous. In September the air gets chilly and the 
shortening of the days is emphasized by the deep valleys, 
yet when the weather is fine the country is never more de- 
lightful. The air is often clearer and the mountain scenery 
more beautiful than in the summer. June is the next best 
month for the lower levels, but walking or clim'bing is 
harder in June than in November. Most of the mountain 
hotels open June i and close Sept. 15 or Oct. i. Many 
foreigners pass the winter about Lake Genev.\, particularly 
at its eastern end, and there are a few winter resorts at high 
altitudes, almost wholly frequented by invalids for whose 
needs a peculiar climate is desirable; but to the ordinary 
traveler Switzerland in winter is dreary. In the city of 
Geneva itself throughout the year the mean temperatures 
from month to month, correspond to those of New York 
with remarkable closeness. Geneva, Lucerne and Zurich all 
are hot in mid-summer — as hot as Paris. 

Germany’s climate is much like that of New England 
and the Middle States, with plenty of snow and with skating 
a favorite amu’sement. Yet tihough cold weather prevails, 
people who have passed winters in Germany and also in 
Italy, s»ay they prefer Germany 'because the houses are 
warmly built and well provided with stoves. Munich has an 
uneven temperature and winters that are severe as winters 
go in Europe, though not with such extremes of cold as 
occur in the States. 

Vienna is slightly warmer than Boston in the winter, 
slightly cooler in the summer. It has sharp changes in tem- 
perature. 

Holland and Belgium are very cold in winter, and see 


GOING ABROAD? 


i6 

few tourists at that season. In Holland the flowers are at 
their best in April and May. 

The Danish climate m summer is not unlike that’ of 
England, and in Scandinavia the summers are delightful. 
The Orkney Islands are generally bright and sunshiny, with 
most invigorating air in July and August. The Channel 
Island's (Jersey, Guernsey, Aldersey and Sark) have a phe- 
nomenally equable and healthful climate, due to the influences 
of the Gulf Stream. In 1898 they had something more than 
2000 hours of sunshine against less than 1300 for London 
and about 1500 for Oxford. By resorting to them one can 
in a few hours and at slight expense flee the rigors of an 
English or French winter. 

In England itself much the same effect is produced by 
the ocean influences on Cornwall. The mean temperature 
of Falmouth for December is 44.2, of Penzance 43.0, wihile 
that of Nice is 45.4, and Pau only 42.8. Furthermore, Corn- 
wall has the advantage of lacking the mistral, the blighting 
wind that mars the perfections of the Riviera. 

All of Spain is very warm in summer, so that the best 
time for traveling through it is in the spring or fall. South- 
ern Spain is much like Southern Italy in winter. Water 
rarely freezes at Gibraltar. Oranges may be picked from the 
trees about Cadiz, Jerez, and Seville in February; but 
Granada, surrounded by mountains, is apt to be chilly, and 
not long after leaving Cordova on the journey toward the 
north the mercury begins to drop. At Madrid snow-drifts 
in winter are not uncommon and the climate is like that of 
a city in our Northern States. 

In Morocco, Algiers and Tunis the November weather 
is like that of an American June. Until April the days re- 
semble our bright autumn without dampness. April is one 
of the best months for a visit, as the flowers are then in 
their glory. May is like our July, and from then through 
October is rainless and too hot for American tourists. Ice 
and snow are almost unknown. Cairo is declared to have 
the best climate in the world 'for the three winter months. 
Perhaps eight thousand foreigners, half of them Americans, 


WHY, WHO, AND WHEN TO GO. 


17 

visit Egypt every winter, but not many people go there or 
stay there after April. 

Anybody planning to go round the world would better 
leave Egypt in the early winter, so as to reaoh India and 
Ceylon by January. China should be reached in the spring, 
and the Japanese climate will be found agreeable in May. 

The Holy Land and the Far East are best visited in 
winter or early spring. Constantinople weather in July and 
August is exceedingly warm; May is one of the pleasantest 
months on the Bosporus. 

Athens has an equable climate which in time is going to 
make it one of the most popular winter resorts on the 
Mediterranean. With the sea south of it, and hills rising 
to mountains behind, it has a situation midway that of an 
island and a continent. The spring and autumn there are 
charming; snow falls in winter only once or twice in years; 
fogs are rare. The summers are long, but the winds coming 
over the Aegean temper its heats. 

If, then, the traveler had the time and money to change 
his climate like the birds, he would attain the maximum of 
comfort if he passed January and February in Northern 
Africa; March in Palestine and Turkey; April and May in 
Italy, Southern France and Spain; June in Paris and Eng- 
land; July and August in Switzerland, or Norway, Sweden 
and Russia; September in Germany; October in Austria; 
November in Greece; December in Sicily. Not that these 
are positively the best months for each country named, but 
that this might make the best circular tour for a year, from 
the climatic point of view. 

Of course there are other considerations that may over- 
balance those of climate. It is, for instance, sometimes de- 
sirable to plan a tour so as to bring one to certain points at 
the time of certain festivals or cereimonials. It is no longer 
worth while going to Rome for the Carnival, because the 
celebration now hardly warrants crossing the street to see, 
but it is still a merry affair at Nice, which is about the only 
place left where it is celebrated with vigor. In all Catholic 
Europe the ceremonials of Holy Week are imposing, but 
they are not always easily accessible. People wiho have 


GOING ABROAD? 


been in Rome in Holy Week have assured ’me they would 
not advise it for any one whose stay there must be brief, 
as they found many of the museums closed part oi the 
week, and were hardly compensiated by the religious cere- 
monies, having no means of getting tickets to such as were 
not open to everybody. 

Christmas, everybody knows, is observed with pomp in 
all Catholic Churches. At Rome from Christmas to Jan. 6 
an interesting affair is the presentation of petitions to the 
bambino in the church of Aracoeli, by children. In Rome 
and Naples on St. Anthony’s Day, Jan. 17, occurs the cere- 
mony of blessing the animals. On Whitsunday in Naples 
the pilgrimages made by crowds to the sanctuary of the 
Madonna di Monte Vergine, and on Whitmonday to the 
Madonna del Arco, are picturesque spectacles. On Good 
Friday the procession after sunset at Grassina, near Flor- 
ence, makes a weird scene; and on Easter Monday a very 
pretty festa in honor of the Blessed Virgin takes place at 
Signa, a little town easily reached by steam train from Flor- 
ence. At the Pardon of St. Nicolas-des-Eaux in Brittany 
on the first Saturday in August the cattle of the neighbor- 
hood, gaily adorned, are driven to two fountains near the 
chapel, supposed to possess miraculous virtue. Young cattle 
are presented to the Saint and afterward sold at auction, the 
popular belief being that one of them in a herd brings pros- 
perity. At St.-Jean-du-Doigt, near Morlaix, Brittany, the 
interesting local Pardon takes place on St. John s Eve, the 
23rd of June. 

A quaint old custom still prevails in the beautiful coun- 
try on both sides of the Danube, a hundred miles above 
Vienna, commonly called the Wachnau. At the summer 
solstice fires are lighted on all the more prominent heights 
of the mountains that give the Wachnau its peculiar charm. 
The picturesque towns and villages on both shores are beau- 
tifully illuminated and the bridges across the great river are 
ablaze with myriad lights. This festival is now called Johan- 
nisfeier, or St. John’s fete, by a devout population, but the 
old people call it by its real pagan name, Sonnenwendfeuer, 
solstice fires. 


WHY, WHO, AND WHEN TO GO. 


19 


The 14th of July is the great national holiday in France, 
and the 29th of July in Switzerland, boith being celebrated 
much like the 4th of July with us. England has no day of 
this kind, though Guy Fawkes’ day, Nov. 5, is celebrated 
after a fashion. The French observe New Years’ Day with 
much pomp. It is the great holiday in Scotland, but is not 
observed at all in England. Orleans, in Erance, celeibrates 
on the 7th and 8th of May the defeat of the Englisih by Joan 
of Arc. On Ascension Day (May 19 in 1900) Venice cele- 
brates with a procession of gondolas and general merry- 
making the triumph of an old Venetian admiral over 
pirates. 

In the United Kingdom the great recreation days are the 
Bank Holidays, — Easter Monday (April ii in 1900), Whit- 
monday (Aday 30 in JQOo), the first Monday in August, and 
December 26. Ancient holidays still observed to some ex- 
tent in one way or another are: January 6, Twelfth Day, the 
night before being Twelfth Night, marked by various social 
rites. February 2, Candlemas; Festival of the Purification of 
the Virgin; consecration of the lighted candles to be used 
in the church during the year. February 14, Old Candlemas, 
St. Valentine’s Day. March 25, Lady Day; Annunciation of 
rhe Virgin. June 24, Midsummer Day, Feast of the Nativity 
of John the Baptist. July 15, St. Swithin’s Day, the old 
superstition being that if rain fell on this day it would con- 
tinue forty days. August i, Lammas Day, originally in 
England the festival of the wtheat harvest; in the church the 
festival of St. Peter’s miraculous deliverance from prison. 
September 29, Michaelmas, the Fast of St. Michael, the 
Archangel. November i. Allhallo wmas, or All Saints’ Day, 
the previous evening being All-hallow-e’en, observed by home 
gatherings and old-time rites. November 2, All Souls’ Day, 
the day of prayer for the so'uls of the dead. November ii, 
Martinmas, the Feast of St. Martin. December 28, Childer- 
mas, Holy Innocents’ Day. The quarter days used for calcu- 
lating rents and tradesmen’s accounts are Lady Day, Mid- 
summer Day, Michaelmas and Christmas in England; Whit- 
sunday, Martinmas, Candlemas and Lammas Day in Scot- 
land. Mothering Sunday is Mid-Lent Sunday, on which the 


20 GOING ABROAD? 

old rural custom obtains of visiting one’s parents and mak- 
ing them presents. 

In England, Aug. 12 is the great day for sportsmen, 
when the grouse s-hooting begins, the open time ending 
Dec. II. The partridge season runs from Sept, i to Feb. i; 
pheasants, Oct. i to Feb. i. The period for deer hunting or 
stalking varies from about Aug. 12 to Oct. 12 for stags, and 
from Nov. 10 to the end of March for hinds. There is no 
statutory close-time for fox hunting or rabbit shooting, but 
there is an unwritten law that the sportsman respects as much 
as he does the enactments of Parliament. Nov. i is the rec- 
ognized date for the opening of the fox-hunting season, 
which continues till the following April. Hares are in best 
condition in January, February, and March. The close time 
for salmon in Scotland is for rods from Nov. i to 
February 10. 

Racing in England begins in the middle of 'March and 
lasts through November, the calendar having about a dozen 
meetings a month. The most important on the list is Derby 
Day, the Wednesday of the Summer Meeting, which takes 
place at Epsom, in Surrey, usually at the end of May, but 
sometimes early in June; then London empties itself and 
goes to the Downs in countless thousands. A week or two 
later ccwmes the Ascot meeting, also near London, a full- 
dress picnic graced by the presence of many members of the 
royal family, and noted for the fashionable attendance. Third 
in importance are the Goodwood races, usually late in July. 
The chief steeplechase of the year, -the Liverpool Grand 
National, is run in March. In Paris the Grand Prix is run 
on a Sunday early in June. 

• The Oxford-Cambridge boat race is rowel on the 
Thames near London, usually in March. The ^‘eights’’ 
week at Oxford comes in the middle of May; the Henley 
regatta late in June or July. The cricket match between Ox- 
ford and Cambridge is played near the end of June, and be- 
tween Eton and Harrow usually in July. The football season 
is much longer than with us, opening Sep^. i in England 
and running to April 30; in Scotland it is longer still, from 
Aug. 15 to May 15, The great Rugby matches come in mid- 


WHY, WHO, AND WHEN TO GO. 


21 



winter. The Oxford-Cambridge miatch is played in Decem- 
ber. Interest in the sport resembles that in baseball with us, 
an attendance of forty or fifty thousand being not infrequent. 

Yachting regattas, pigeon-shooting contests and tennis 
tournaments attract much attention on the Riviera in the 
early spring. 

The Spanish bull-fighting season begins on Easter Sun- 
day and lasts into summer. 

Oxford is at its best during the Trinity term, from the 
middle of May to the middle of July; and Commemoration 
Week, usually the second or third in June, is the gayest. 
The “fourth of June” is gala day at Eton. 

The horse fair at Bernay, Normandy, held in the fifth 
week of Lent, is the most important in France. 

When there is a Wagnerian festival at Bayreuth, it comes 
in mid-summer, but if you want to go you must write for 
tickets weeks and even months ahead; even then you may 
no<t get them. A letter addressed to the mianagement at 
Bayreuth will procure the necessary information. By reason 
of the Paris Exposition there will be no festival in 1900. 

The salons at Paris, — there are no'W two of them, — open 
in May and are kept open for some weeks. The Royal 
Academy in London is open from the first Monday in May 
to the first Monday in August. 

The fountains at Versailles generally play between 4 
and 5 of the afternoon on the first Sunday of each month 
from May to October; those of St. Cloud at the same hour 
on the second Sunday oi the month. The spectacle at Ver- 
sailles costs about $2000 and is well worth taking much 
pains to see. 

The flower festival in the Bois de Boulogne at Paris 
comes about the time of the Grand Prix, early in June. 

The Paris Exposition will open April 15 and close Nov. 

5, 1900. 


CHAPTER IL 

WHERE TO GO. 


It is a mooted question whether it is or is not wise to 
plan all the details of a foreign trip before leaving home. 
I have heard the advice of one sight-seer to the effect that 
every day should be assigned its work, and no deviation 
from the programme should ever be admitted. His theory 
is that if you allow yourself to loiter in one place, you must 
hurry in another, and so return with things undone that 
you ought to have done. 

To my mind, that is making travel too much like hard 
work. Suppose it rains on the day you have assigned to 
the Bois de Boulogne or Vesuvius. Suppose somebody 
tells you of some out-of-the-way place you had never heard 
of, with customs or curiosities or a festival more interesting 
than anything you will see in Paris or Vienna, — a place at 
which without trouble you can stop off for a day or two. 
Suppose the voyage takes two days longer than you ex- 
pected; or that cholera breaks out in some town on your 
programme. 

It is possible to take a Bradshaw (the time-table book) 
and determine beforehand every train you will use. 

That may be better than hap-hazard traveling, with no 
plan at all, but to my mind the happy mean is better, a rough 
outline of what you want to do, with details left to circum- 
stances. 

As a basis for this outline, get the pamphlets issued by 
the tourist companies and study the excursions they describe. 
The routes have been arranged by men who, for business 
purposes, have watched the preference of thousands of tour- 
ists and have struck averages. They have sought to learn 
the pleasantest thing for the largest number, and their con- 
clusions are more likely to suit the majority of cases than 


22 


WHERE TO GO. 


23 


the prejudiced verdict of any one traveler. Bad weather 
or an attack of dyspepsia may give any one man a prejudice 
against a place that to most men at most seasons will be 
delightful. 

Note carefully, however, the proportion between the 
times allotted to each place and the duration of the whole 
tour. A flying party can do Florence in two days, but an 
assiduous explorer could not cover all the ground in a week, 
possibly not in a month. On the other hand, Geneva’s sights 
can be exhausted in a day, and nobody tarries there long, 
unless it be for rest or study. 

FOR SIGHT-SEEING. 

‘‘As many men, so many minds,” and rash is the man 
who tries to lay down the law as to what places must or must 
not be seen, as to how much time should be spent here and 
must be spent there. Yet it is perfectly safe to say that the 
great majority of foreign tourists find Paris the most in- 
teresting city in Europe, and that no trip is complete without 
it. In the Louvre it has the finest art collections; in the 
Boulevards, the finest streets; in the Bois de Boulogne, the 
handsomest park; in its cafes is the best cooking; its Opera 
House leads the world; at Versailles, St. Cloud, and Fon- 
tainebleau, easily accessible suburbs, are the most magnifi- 
cent of royal estates, — still really royal, though nominally 
republican. Everybody knows it sets the fashions for all 
the ladies of the globe. And to most people its historical 
associations have more vitality than those of any other city. 
But the general opinion of tourists seems to be that it should 
not be visited early in an extended tour. After seeing it, 
many other cities seem dull, stale, or trite by comparison, 
that visited first would have charmed. Paris, then, may w«ll 
cap the climax. • 

Everybody goes to Paris. Almost everybody goes to 
London. Yet my own verdict would be that it is not so 
materially different from an American city as to make it 
preferable to many of the quainter places on the Continent, 
if one has not the time for all. But there are few people 
who would not like to see Westminster Abbey and the 


24 


GOING ABROAD? 


Tower, London Bridge and the British Museum, to say 
nothing of Mme. Tussaud’s wax ‘‘figgers.” 

Rural England is more delightful than urban England. 
It would be a pity to miss a run through the English 
country-side, with a visit to some of the cathedral towns, 
Oxford, and perhaps the Lake District. Ireland is not a 
sine qua non, by which 1 do not mean to say it is uninter- 
esting, — far from that; but it is less interesting to most 
people than Wales or Scotland. A week or two among the 
lochs and over moor and mountain should be welcome to 
anybody who knows his Walter Scott, his William Black, or 
his Robert Burns. 

From Scotland or Northern England you may if you 
like cross to Norway and Sweden. The trip to the Land of 
the Midnight Sun is now the proper thing, and a most en- 
joyable thing. The fjords have some of the grandest scenery 
on earth, there are waterfalls prodigious enough to be mar- 
vels for anybody who has not seen Canada, the people are 
charming and have not yet learned that the end of the Nine- 
teenth Century is at hand. 

Russia is beyond the bounds of an ordinary trip. It 
may not be true that only the adventurous get as far as St. 
Petersburg and Moscow, but it is true that the railroad rides 
such sight-seeing requires are long and tiresome, that the 
expense is not inconsiderable, and that there is little to see 
except the people themselves, their ways and their manners, 
which, to be sure, is no small thing, indeed is the most useful 
of all sight-seeing, yet in the case of Russia certainly not 
worth the effort for any one whose time is limited or whose 
purse is not weighty. 

Copenhagen is a pleasant city, but Denmark appears to 
attract few tourists. Holland is far more popular, and it is 
well worth while to plan for at least a week there, surely 
taking in Amesterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague, with stops 
at Leyden, Haarlem, and some of the small towns; Amster- 
dam and The Hague alone will suffice to give an idea of the 
country, if time presses. 

Belgium is less attractive. Antwerp has a noted gallery, 
a famous cathedral, and a picturesque castle. Brussels has 


WHERE TO GO. 


25 


Waterloo near by, but the city itself is a miniature* Paris, 
and will hardly detain the wayfarer longer than will be neces- 
sary to enjoy its wonderful old square. 

Everybody goes up or down the Rhine, between 
Cologne (or, better, Bonn), and Mainz (Mayence), or Weis- 
baden, near by. The lower Rhine is not worth seeing, and 
there are Americans loyal enough to assert that the best 
scenery anywhere along its course is surpassed by that of 
the Hudson, the St. Lawrence, the Penobscot, and other 
American rivers. But of course we haven’t any castles on 
our rivers, and our scanty legends have not yet been im- 
mortalized in song and story. 

Nobody misses Cologne’s cathedral. At Bonn, not far 
away, or at Heidelberg, not far from Mainz, it is easy to get 
a glimpse of German student life, and at Heidelberg, too, is 
perhaps the most interesting of European castles. 

The scenery about Heidelberg is almost as charming as 
that about Baden, still farther up the valley. Strasburg, just 
beyond, has a clock that disappoints most Americans, but 
that they all want to see. The Black Forest, between Baden 
and Switzerland, is worth traversing, by train if in no more 
adequate way. 

Berlin, not very picturesque, is rather too far eastward 
for the bulk of tourist travel, and can safely be left out if 
need be, though of course not to be omitted by the man 
who wants to see the Prussian at home, to view the capital » 
of the most powerful people on the Continent, and to visit 
Potsdam. Leipsic is an old-fashioned Saxon university 
town, and a musical centre, an economical place for a rest, 
and with many advantages for study. Dresden has one of 
the most satisfying galleries in Europe, and delights about 
15,000 visitors a year. Prague is thoroughly quaint, and 
justifies whatever effort may be made to reach it. 

Vienna is, in the opinion of many, more delightful than 
Paris. Its public buildings, its collections, its merry, care- 
less life, are attractions that charm all visitors. If time per- 
mits, a trip down the Danube, at least as far as Budapest, 
is likely to be entertaining. South of Austria come Servia, 
Bulgaria, and other little known lands that the wiseacres 


26 


GOING ABROAD? 


say are going to be favorite touring grounds, though as 
yet their hotel accommodations are not such as to free their 
inspection from all discomforts. 

Returning toward the West, the next stop would natur- 
ally be at Munich, unless the traveler made straight for 
Venice. Munich, too, has its galleries, — and its beer-gar- 
dens. Nuremberg, much smaller, pleases me more, and for 
my part were I to name the place in all Europe that has 
given me the most pleasure, Nuremberg would be that place. 

Switzerland is incomparable. There may be higher 
peaks elsewhere, more stupendous glaciers, but nowhere else 
is so much mountain scenery so accessible, so conveniently, 
safely, and economically accessible. The guide-books will 
suggest a score of ways to traverse it, yet I will suggest that 
if a tourist has but a week or ten days at his command for 
Switzerland, he might do much worse than start at Lucerne; 
go up one side of Rigi and down the other to Fluelen; thence 
to Gottingen and the Rhone Glacier; next to Meiringen and 
Interlaken. After the side Trip of a day to Lauterbrunnen, 
etc., on to Berne; south to Lausanne; by Vevey and the 
Castle of Chillon, up the Rhone valley to Martigny; across 
to Chamonix, at the foot of Mt. Blanc; and then down to 
Geneva and so out of the country. This combination of 
diligence riding, three or four mountain passes, perhaps the 
most delightful lakes in the world, and the quaintest of 
Swiss cities, makes a tour not to be surpassed anywhere for 
views, variety, novelty, and continuous delight. But it leaves 
out Zermatt, in the belief of many the best of all Swiss 
resorts. 

If possible ride into Italy, or walk, over one of the 
passes rather than through one of the tunnels. All the 
passes are worth seeing, but the Simplon, from Brieg to 
Domo d’Ossola, is the best. Next in scenic rank is the 
Splugen, from Coire to Colico. The Gt. St. Bernard is now 
not much used, and the St. Gotthard less still. The railroad 
journey over the Brenner pass is charming, and if you 
can linger in the Tyrol, at Innsbruck, Trent, or any of the 
resorts, so much the better. The scenery on the rail route 
from Vienna to Venice is perhaps the best to be seen from 


WHERE TO GO. 


27 


the cars. You see little going to Turin by the Mont Cenis 
route. The only other entrance to Italy commonly used 
is that along the Riviera, from Nice to Genoa, a delightful 
ride. 

In hot weather a glimpse of Italy can be secured without 
risk of discomfort by going over the Simplon to Lake 
Maggiore, thence to Milan, back to Lake Como, across to 
Lugano, and over the St. Gotthard to Lucerne. 

Tourists who take in only Northern Italy wisely spend 
their energies on Venice, Florence, Genoa, and Milan, with 
a few hours at Pisa, and possibly a stop at Verona and 
Padua. There is little to see at Turin. At least a side ex- 
cursion of a day or two from Milan should be made through 
the chief Italian lakes, and they are worth a week from those 
who have leisure. The Lago di Garda, close by the route 
from the Tyrol to Venice, is not often visited by Americans, 
but the slight digression from the route it requires will 
never be regretted. 

On the way from Florence to Rome, stops should cer- 
tainly be made at Orvieto and Siena, possibly at Perugia. 
A month or even more will not exhaust the sights of Rome, 
with all its ruins, its museums, its galleries excelling even 
those of Florence, and its four hundred churches. Naples 
will repay a week’s stay; two weeks will enable the sight- 
seer to climb Vesuvius, explore Pompeii, and make the tour 
of the Amalfi-Sorrento fromontory, most charming of 
Edens, giving a day or two at Capri, with its wonderful 
Blue Grotto; and a month about Naples would not be tire- 
some. Between Naples and Sicily there is little of interest; 
and not many Americans reach Sicily. 

Excursions to Corsica and Sardinia are pleasantly re- 
membered by all who take them, barring the almost inevit- 
able sea-sickness of the passage. 

Besides Nice, Monaco, Monte Carlo, and Mentone, there 
are few places in Southe’*n France familiar to American 
tourists, save of course Marseilles. On the road to Paris 
Lyons is worth a stay over night. Between Mont Cenis 
and Paris, Aix-les-Bains during the bathing season, from 
April on, is another pleasant place to break a journey. 


28 


GOING ABROAD? 


Southwest of Paris is Touraine and the valley of the Loire, 
with its charming chateaux and stately cathedrals, a region 
too much neglected by those in search of the beautiful, but 
like Normandy explored more and more every year by de- 
lighted bicyclists. Brittany allures the artist. North of Paris 
every enthusiast on architecture will tell you that you must 
not miss the cathedrals of Rouen and Amiens; and Rouen 
has much more than its cathedral, for it is the Nuremberg 
of France. 

In Spain Madrid is the most familiar name, but with 
your choice between Madrid and two weeks in Southern 
Spain, take the land of the Moor, see the Alhambra at Gra- 
nada, the mosque at Cordova, the Alcazar at Seville; glance 
at Cadiz, sip sherry in the bodegas at Jerez, bask in the 
frown of the gigantic Rock of Gibraltar; and run across for 
a day or two in Tangier, barbarous outpost of barbarism, 
where 3^011 may yet see genuine slaves, find in the thoroughly 
Moorish market-place a fanatic with a sword stuck through 
his leg, and sleep in the land of one of the few perfectly ab- 
solute monarchs yet remaining on the globe, in an English 
hotel with all the comforts of civilization, including perhaps 
the only finger bowls you will find in a whole European 
tour. 

Algiers is now half civilized, with streets as Frenchy 
as if they were in Paris, next Moorish lanes, with mosques 
and minarets and all the ways of the Oriental. From there 
you may go by train to the edge of the desert, or into moun- 
tain scenery grand and savage. 

At Tunis again you may find almost complete barbarism. 
And at Cairo, lately become a favorite goal of the traveler, 
there are the same novelties of another civilization. The 
tour of the Holy Land is now made with the minimum of 
discomfort and the maximum of safety. When the unspeak- 
able Turk isn’t embroiled with European powers, Constanti- 
nople is visited with impunity and delight. Asia Minor, 
however, is seldom penetrated. Of Greece more than a word 
should be said. Within a generation it has taken great 
strides in catching up with the rest of the world, and Athens 
today is nearly as modern as any other European capital. 


WHERE TO GO. 


29 


Its hotels, streets, customs are all more than endurable, and 
its ruins are of course of the greatest interest to the student. 
But off the beaten tracks foreigners suffer more or less hard- 
ship, and women would better not venture, unless they are 
willing to put up with privations. The same thing is true of 
Spain; where many people go, you find cleanliness, good 
cooking, comfort. But go into the villages of Spain or any 
country away from the heart of Europe, and the habits of 
life are too primitive for the enjoyment of many tourists. 

Of course this brief sketch does not suggest all the de- 
lightful spots of Europe. Let it be taken as a rough enu- 
meration of those which most travelers will prefer to see or 
take the time to see. 

IN SEARCH OF HEALTH. 

To discuss the matter of health resorts, let me introduce 
my friend Bean. He shall he the Solon, the Solomon, the 
Nestor of this treatise, and at the same time its scape-goat. 

I suspect he stole much of the wisdom I may attribute to 
him, but it will be convenient to assume that he knows what 
he 'is talking about. If he makes any errors, don’t blame 
me. As he has the pernicious habit of writing anonymously, 
and voluminously, for the newspapers, there is a chance that 
he may really be responsible for some of the things he must 
father willy-nilly. If it wasn’t Bean, who was it that wrote 
the following: — 

“France is particularly well endowed with winter resorts 
suitable for persons with chest disorders. Not to speak of 
Algeria, which is an exceptionally favorable resort for this 
class of patient, there is along the shore of the Mediter- 
ranean, from Cannes to Mentone, following the magnificent 
Corniche road, a narrow strip of land, a true paradise on 
earth, where during the worst seasons the temperature re- 
mains between 55 and 60 degrees, and between October and 
May there are more than 100 clear, cloudless days. In this 
succession of towns, of which there are a dozen at least, the 
effect of the wonderful climate is heightened by the fact 
that the patients are surrounded by all the luxury and com- 
forts of modern life. 


30 


GOING ABROAD? 


'‘In the southwest of France there is another group of 
winter resorts, equally famous, but answering to rather 
special indications. Thus, in sight of the Pyrenees we have 
Amelie-les-Bains, Pau, with its marvelously even climate and 
dry, sedative atmosphere, and Biarritz, with its bracing sea 
breezes, while Arcachon, near Bordeaux, is renowned for 
its lovely pine forests. 

“No better counsel can be given to persons with heart 
disease than to pass the winter months in a soft and bracing 
climate, such as they will find at Beaulieu, Mentone, Hyeres 
or Algiers, especially as the sea air is usually beneficial to 
them. They should use every effort to avoid sudden changes 
of temperature and an atmosphere too highly charged with 
moisture. In choosing an abode they should look for one 
that has an open situation, while at the same time not 
exposed to the winds; for this reason they will find it best 
to live in valleys rather than on the hills. 

“Exposure to cold is the most important of all the 
causes that may bring on an attack of uraemia in the course 
of a case of chronic nephritis, or inflammation of the kid- 
neys, which may have remained latent up to that time. By 
causing a congestive condition of the kidneys, exposure to 
the action of a low temperature reduces the function of those 
organs to a minimum, whence the conclusion from a thera- 
peutical point of view that a patient suffering from nephritis 
should avoid with the utmost pains sudden variations in tem- 
perature and life in cold and damp climates. When the 
renal disorder is acute, the steady and regular heat of the 
bed is the condition sine qua non of a rational treatment. But 
with a chronic lesion — that is to say, with real Bright’s 
disease — the patient should wear flannel or woolen garments, 
and if living in a bad climate, emigrate to a spot with warm 
and regular temperature, such as Hyeres, Monte Carlo, Men- 
tone, San Remo, Malaga, Ajaccio, Palermo, Corfu, Algiers, 
or Biskra. 

“The action of cold is unfavorable to all neuropathic 
persons, and such sufferers should lose no time at the ap- 
proach of winter in taking themselves off to regions that 
are inaccessible to frost, Hyeres, Arcachon, Mentone, 


WHERE TO GO. 


31 


Monaco and Algeria, and a number of resorts in Italy where 
the temperature remains in the neighborhood of 50 — 55 Fah- 
renheit, can be cited as examples of suitable winte’* stations 
for such patients. Climates like theirs keep patients alive 
indefinitely, and have a remarkable sedative action, the high- 
est and most constant expression of which is the fact that 
persons who have lost the habit of sleeping, almost entirely 
regain it at these resorts. 

“Ni'ce is perhaps the cheapest of all the French southern 
co^st towns of today for the visitors; its hotels and pensions 
outnumber those of Cannes and Monte Carlo together, and 
you can live modestly at 7 francs or $1.50 a day, and up to 
francs or $5 in luxury, and add as much more as you like 
for wine and special rooms. Lady Murray has opened a 
Ho-me at Antibes, near Nice, for invalid journalists and 
writers of all nationalities at the very modest charge of one 
pound a week. The house is called Chateau de I’Esperance, 
and stands in its own extensive gardens. Application for 
admission should be made to the Hon. Lady Murray, 'ilia 
Victoria, Cannes. The Home is closed every year from 
May to November. 

“Cannes has been for a century the most aristocratic of 
all the Riviera resorts. It is useless for the stranger to go 
there with an idea of taking part in its social life unless he 
has good letters of introduction to prominent residents. For 
living expenses you may begin at 8 francs in a pension and 
run up to 30 francs a day at a hotel, and as much more as 
you like for wine and private apartments. Nearly all the 
wealthy visitors live in villas. 

“Doctors commend Sestri for the humidity of the at- 
mosphere, which is greater than on the Western Riviera. 
Sestri also has a smaller rainfall — which is not inconsistent 
with the softer, damper air, although it may appear to be 
so. Excessive dryness is what makes many parts of the 
Mediterranean coast so trying to nervous persons. The more 
humid air of Sestri is subject to much less violent variations 
of temperature in the course of the twenty-four hours than 
are the greater number of southern winter stations. It is 
breezy — that is, the air is not stagnant, is often renewed — 


32 


GOING ABROAD? 


and to this fact the local wiseacres attribute Sestri’s im- 
munity from epidemics. 

“The volcanic region of Auvergne is in the very centre 
of France and served by two direct lines of rail from Paris. 
The true Auvergne spas are: Royat, the most fashionable, 

with its iron effervescent waters, at which gather sufferers 
from lymphatic affections, anaemia, chlorosis, catarrhal trou- 
bles, arthritic and certain other phases of gout; La Bour- 
boule, with arsenical waters, frequented by somewhat the 
same class of patient as the former, plus more suffering from 
rheumatism, intermittent fevers and malarial effects; Mont 
Dore, where the special treatment by inhalations of affec- 
tions of the respiratory organs is the foremost specialty, and 
where gather singers, actors, clergymen and public speakers, 
who remain in a room filled with vapor and spray for half an 
hour at a time; St. Nectaire, Ste. Marguerite, Medagues, 
Chatel-Guyon and Chateauneuf complete the group of Au- 
vergne spas, but are of small importance as compared to 
the three described above. Americans resident m France 
are found in considerable numbers at Royat and a few at 
Mont Dore, and it is often remarked that, having been once, 
they return again. The country is lovely in June and again 
in September; intervening months are very hot, though 
tempered by frequent thunderstorms. 

“Aix-les-Bains, in southeastern France, on the line from 
Paris to the Mt. Cenis tunnel and Turin, is perhaps the most 
delightful spa for early visitors. Gout and rheumatism are 
treated there with remarkable success. The season opens in 
April. 

“Homburg, in the Taunus mountains of Germany, not 
far from Frankfort, is the most fashionable spa in Europe. 
More English and Americans go there than to any other. 
The Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and all the 
distinguished people wbo are found at Cannes in the -winter 
are grouped at Homburg in the months of July and August. 
Then the season is at its height, but it opens April 15 and 
lasts till Oct. I. Pension rates are very moderate in April, 
May, June and September. The usual course of water drink- 
ing is 2J days, but without medical advice no one should use 


WHERE TO GO. 


33 


the waters for any length of time. They are salutary in 
chronic diseases of the stomach, bowels and liver, habhual 
constipation, chronic diarrhoea, jaundice, gout; for exces- 
sive corpulency, anaemia and various nervous affections. 
Nauheim, not far from Homburg, has sprung into favor 
within a decade, and bids fair to be the first curative spa in 
Germany. 

“The Engadine, in southeastern Switzerland, is the most 
noted resort for tuberculous patients. Its great altitude gives 
it effects similar to those of the American Colorado. The 
hotels are chiefly inhabited by invalids, summer and winter 
alike. 

“On the Adriatic is Abbazia, a winter resort that has 
crept into favor of recent years. The situation is charming, 
the wooded coast line giving protection against all inclement 
blasts, and producing an evenness of temperature not known 
in the most sheltered bays of the French Riviera. More- 
over, in summer it is not so hot as the Riviera resorts. Frost 
and snow are practically unknown, and tropical vegetati*on 
is abundant and luxurious.” 

There are many other health resorts in Europe. To de- 
scribe the various advantages claimed for all of them would 
be a long task, and one of really little avail, for the invalid 
should resort to them only on the advice of some physician 
acquainted with their merits and demerits. Any American 
who can afford to go to Europe to get cured, can afford to 
pay for the advice of a physician competent to speak with 
authority on this point. Likewise to know where to go for 
some difficult surgical operation, consult a specialist before 
leaving home. 

Dr. Linn, in his Guide to the Health Resorts of Europe, 
not only urges preliminary consultation with a physician and 
deprecates acting on the advice of friends not in the medical 
profession, but also counsels a course oif preparato.ry treat- 
ment before visiting a health resort. Dr. Linn says that 
many of the mineral water-cures have fixed the duration of 
treatment quite arbitrarily at three weeks, but that -in reality 
every one requires a longer or shorter time, depending on 
many conditions for which the doctors at the stations are in 


34 


GOING ABROAD? 


the habit of watching. It may, however, be remarked that 
at many strong mineral springs most people become satu- 
rated with the mineral elements, as it were, in from -tihree to 
four weeks; and then it is wiser to rest for a longer or 
shorter time before 'taking a new course of baths or waters. 
The results of mineral water cures very often do not show 
themselves for some time after the cure has been made, as 
the mineral elements continue to work in the system for a 
long time after taking them into the body. It must be under- 
stood that it is very often necessary to take more than one 
summer’s treatment at many of the health resorts. Indeed, 
it is not reasonable to expect a complete cure of a chronic 
malady in one season, although it often happens. This is 
even more true of climatic cures. No fallacy is more widely 
spread, and none is less based on reason and experience, 
than the expectation of immediate or rapid cure from change 
of climate. 

Competent physicians abroad as a rule charge 20 francs, 
16 shillings, $4, for first consultations and visits; the special- 
ists, 40 to 60 francs, $8 to $12. For instance. Professor Char- 
cot -and such men expect 60 francs at the office, and about 
100 for a visit. In England two guineas (about $10.20) is the 
usual fee for consultations; general practitioners take less 
for continuous attendance. At baths it is usual to charge a 
certain sum for the season. 


/ 


CHAPTER III. 

HOW TO GO. 


As a rule, where there is competition, you have to pay 
for a thing about what it is worth. 

“The bearings of this observation lays in the application 
on it.” 

Applied to ocean steamers, it means that the variation 
in rates of passage corresponds closely to the relative esti- 
mates put by the majority of the traveling public on the ac- 
commodations offered. 

For example, it costs a good deal more money to drive 
a boat across the ocean in six days than in ten days. If 
enough people were not ready to meet this extra cost, six- 
day boats would not be run. And likewise, if there were not 
enough people to fill the cabins of the ten-day boats, they 
would be given over to steerage passengers and freight. 

If, then, you feel that what suits the majority will suit 
you, it might almost suffice to determine how much money 
you can afford for the passage, and take the first thing you 
can get at that figure. But this simple solution of the prob- 
lem is vitiated by the fact that the tastes and needs of trav- 
elers differ greatly, and what may seem valuable to one man 
may seem worthless to his neighbor. 

THE FAST AND THE SLOW TRIP. 

If only the element of time were to be taken into ac- 
count, everybody who did not look on the sea voyage as a 
vacation, a recreation, a delightful and justifiable rest, would 
go on the fastest boat, — assuming that he could afford it. 
But there are very few travelers, once past the distressing 
period of seasickness, to whom life on an ocean steamer is 
not enjoyable. The feeling that you are completely cut off 
and shut off from the life of the land, which makes the heart 

35 


36 


GOING ABROAD? 


sink when the shore lades from view, turns into a positive re- 
lief after the mind and body have adapted themselves to the 
new conditions. You are glad that you cannot see a paper, 
get a letter, be startled by a telegram, bored by an agent, 
harassed by the cares of the office, the shop, or the home. 
In a vacation on land, to be sure, you run away from these 
things, but you are always haunted by the fear that they may 
chase you. A fire, a death, any one of the calamities of life 
may summon you back to duty at any minute. But on ship- 
board even duty is balked. It is the one place on earth, 
though it isn’t on earth at all, where you can be supremely 
selfish without giving your conscience a chance to be bother- 
some. 

There is little chance to work. Almost everybody plans 
to do more or less of heavy reading, but few do it. Writing 
is out of the question for anybody requiring isolation or 
quiet, and rare is the writer who can accomplish anything 
worth reading without these aids. Even the novel is 
slighted. You become perfectly content to kill the time 
between the meals with shuffle-board, ring toss, cards, chess, 
story-telling, or plain, straight loafing, accomplished with 
the utmost satisfaction when one is stretched out on a 
steamer chair, warmly wrapped, and basking in the sun, on 
the leeward side of a promenade deck. If it be true that you 
should 

“Count that day lost whose low descending sun 
Views from thy hand no worthy action done.” 

then the trans-Atlantic traveler may count just as many lost 
days as there are between Sandy Hook and Liverpool, or 
whatever may be his goal. 

It is, I presume, useless to hold up these pleasures be- 
fore the many novices from whom the apprehension of sea- 
sickness and the landsman’s dread of the sea take away all 
expectation of comfort during the voyage, much less hap- 
piness, and yet it is the fact that at any rate in the summer 
not one person in fifty is kept below by sea-sickness more 
than a day or two, or fails to get some enjoyment out of the 
trip before it is half done. 

If, then, the voyage is to be a pleasure, — as to most 


HOW TO GO. 


37 


people it is sure to be, — the longer trip may be preferable to 
the shorter trip. But, of course, there may be stormy 
weather, the fog-horn may make life a burden, the time 
available for your excursion may be limited, the demands of 
business, society, or the family may make hours precious. 
So, if you are in a hurry to get across, it might be penny- 
wise pound-foolish not to take the faster boat. 

If the choice were to be made solely on the score of 
comfort, most people would vote for the slower boats. To 
be sure, the faster boats are bigger, and so have longer 
promenade decks, — and that is no trifling matter. Their din- 
ing saloons, smoking rooms, ladies’ cabins, etc., are more 
commodious, — ^an advantage, even though there are more 
people to occupy them. On the large boats there are a few 
large staterooms at large prices, but the ordinary state- 
rooms, those used by the majority of travelers, differ little 
in size on any of the boats. The berths are just as comfort- 
able, or uncomfortable, no matter what price you pay. And 
the number of tons burden makes no difference in the space 
allotted for your steamer chair, in which you are likely to 
pass most of your time when you are not at table or sleep- 
ing. The chief compensation that the slow, small boats have 
for their lack of room is the lesser vibration given by the 
screw. No propeller can be driven faster without jarring 
the boat more. The quiver of a swift steamer is very an- 
noying to some people, though others do not mind it. In 
the matter of pitch and roll, there seems to be no difference 
caused by the mere fact that a boat travels ten or twenty 
miles an hour. It appears to be a question of model and 
load, not one of size and speed. 

Some of the cheapest lines get much of their revenue from 
carrying cattle to England. The boats do not accommodate 
many passengers, but in some respects are, in fact, more 
comfortable than the boats making a specialty of passenger 
traffic. Usually their staterooms are well above the water 
line, so that port-holes can be kept open, except in the rough- 
est weather, and outside rooms are the rule. With no second 
cabin or steerage passengers, those of the first cabin feel 
greater liberty to utilize all the deck room for sport or com- 


38 


GOING ABROAD? 


fort. The odor of the cattle is not obnoxious; on the way 
back no live stock is carried. These boats have been 
modelled with an eye to being as steady as possible in order 
that the live stock may be transported safely. All are broad 
of beam, and many of them have bilge keels, in the nature 
of flanges at right angles to the side of the skip, which 
catch the water and check the roll. Usually they are heavily 
loaded, so that they are well down in the water, and this, 
too, steadies them. In two voyages on a boat of this class I 
can recall but one day wihen the steamer chairs had to be 
lashed, and any one who has cro-ssed on the “ocean grey- 
hounds” knows what that signifies. But do not infer that 
all freight boats are steady. On the contrary, among the 
worst oi rollers are some of the old, small liners that have 
been relegated to the poorer class of business. It is the big, 
new freighters that are to be commended for comfort. In 
the matter of safety the fast boiats have the advantage of 
lessening the days of exposure to the dangers of the sea, the 
disadvantage of being driven through fog at high speed. 

As to food on steamships, the chances are that the higher 
the rates the better the table. Very few, however, are the 
stewards who set what can justly be called a poor table. 

LIFE ON SHIPBOARD. 

Sociability is an important feature of life on shipboard. 
Up to within a few years on every trans-Atlantic steamer the 
distinctions of class and rank, wealth and birth, were for the 
while laid aside. But of late on the larger boats, the snob 
now and then sets the pace. This was inevitable when 
steamers became so large that their passengers were not 
thrown in close contact with each other. It is significant 
that there is much less exclusiveness on the return trip, per- 
haps because a few months of travel will make socially timid 
people learn their cnwn worth; perhaps because the larger 
part of our well-to-do folk are at heart sensible people, quick 
to observe. Who take a lesson from genuine aristocracy as 
maintained across the water, and find out that gradations of 
wealth are not the most accurate tests o«f merit. Paradoxical 


HOW TO GO. 


39 

as it may seem, the foreign aristocrat is often the most 
democratic of men. 

But whether you choose one of the larger or one of the 
smaller boats, be sure you will find many delightful friend- 
ships. Anybody who goes to Europe for the ordinary reasons 
is pretty sure to have in his or her make- p something worth 
your respect and good-will. The mere fact that the desire 
to learn is the most common of all the ca es that lead to 
foreign travel, of itself insures you companions of an intel- 
lectually desirable character. As a rule, they are brainy peo- 
ple, and if you enjoy contact with cultured intellects, no- 
where can you gratify that most laudable of tastes better 
than on shipboard. Not that they are all Solomons. And I 
doubt if even Sappho was enchanting when she was sea- 
sick. But the average of learning and geniality and sensi- 
bility is higher than elsewhere. 

Games are the chief recreation, and if you would be 
popular on shipboard, furbish up your game-knowledge. 
About the fifth day you will find the most staid and dignified 
of people eager to be entertained by amusements that on 
shore would be childish. Ennui fosters one diversion, how- 
ever, that is a little more than infantile, that of betting, — on 
the number of miles in a day’s run, on the number of the 
pilot boat first seen, on all sorts of things. Without the 
least desire to pose as a moralist, I may be pardoned for 
suggesting to the inexperienced that there are many ways 
to use money to advantage after you land, and that if you 
decline to risk it in pools and wagers on the steamer; nobody 
will think the less of you. To say “No” to the inevitable 
appeal for a charitable contribution, usually made under the 
guise of selling tickets to a concert for the benefit of sailors’ 
or life guards’ or somebody’s else widows and orphans, is a 
harder thing, and few have the courage to do it. Yet the 
scheme is an imposition and an outrage that steamboat com- 
panies would do well to prohibit. In every ship’s company 
there are some people who cannot afford such gifts, and 
who are grievously wounded by the necessity of appearing 
mean and stingy. If money is to be made at the concerts at 
all, it should be by passing a hat, and not by selling tickets. 


40 


GOING ABROAD? 


Blackmail is none the less blackmail when it is levied under 
the guise of charity. A little thing, you say, to make so 
much fuss over, but the little things sometimes make or mar 
the pleasure of an ocean voyage. 

CHOOSING A CABIN. 

To take a first cabin passage means that you pay for one 
berth in some stateroom in the centre of the boat, dine in 
the chief dining saloon, and can go anywhere on the boat. 

A second cabin ticket entitles you to a berth in a state- 
room aft, dining in the same part of the vessel, and being for- 
bidden to go forward of a certain line. 

Steerage passengers in the older boats are stacked in 
tiers of berths forward, and have no dining saloon, being 
served from the pantry and eating as best they can. On 
some of the new boats a whole deck is assigned to them, 
single men going forward, single women aft, and the centre 
being reserved for families. Some family rooms have b.ut 
two berths, others th^ee or four, giving a privacy formerly 
unknown in steerage travel. Clean blankets are furnis'hed 
on each voyage and dishes are supplied, but the passenger 
must wash his own. He furnishes sheets if he wants them, 
also towels and soap. Food, plain, but plentiful, is given, 
and any extras can be bought at a fair price from the 
stewards, 25 cents getting a good single meal from the 
saloon table, and $5 ensuring service therefrom three times 
a day during the voyage. It is possible without hardship to 
cross at stee^-age rates on one of these new boats, but not 
on the older boats, where the deck room is cramped, be- 
cause no going across a certain line is permitted; the berths 
are all in the bow, making sea-sickness almost inevitable 
under the most distressing condition-s; and the passengers 
are herded like cattle with a promiscuity sure to revolt any 
one of refined instincts. To any man or woman brought up 
in a decent American home, the fikh of the European-^born 
poor met in the steerage is intolerable. 

Second cabin accommodations are clean, the food is 
good, and the company is by no means unendurable. In- 
deed, there is usually more jollity and good nature in the 


41 


HOW TO GO. 

second cabin than in the first. But there is more motion to 
the stern of a vessel than to its waist, and the noise of the 
screw is more plainly heard, so that poor sailors are worse 
off there. The most objectionable thing about it, though, is 
that you are debarred from the privileges that people right 
within your sight are enjoying, the long promenade deck, 
the better dining room, the more elegant cabins and smok- 
ing room. But if you can swallow your pride, undoubtedly 
you will get more for your money in the second cabin than 
in the first. For a much smaller price you get the same 
transportation, berths just as comfortable, save for the pitch- 
ing and the screw, just as much food, though perhaps not 
in such variety. 

On some of the steamers that ply between New York 
and Mediterranean ports in winter, there is no distinction oi 
first and second cabins, so far as privileges go. But, of 
course, the noise of the screw and the pitching are matters 
of necessity, not of privilege, and a poor sailor will find it 
worth while to pay the extra price for a berth amidships. 

Berths in outer rooms naturally command a higher price 
than those in inner rooms, but most people who have 
crossed many times will tell you they are not worth the dif- 
ference. Their only advantage comes from having the port- 
hole for more light and air. As you never use the state- 
room save for dressing and sleeping, or trying to sleep, and 
as the inner rooms have plenty of artificial light, the port- 
hole counts for very little in this regard. In summer in 
calm weather its fresh air is agreeable, but most of the time 
it can’t be left open with safety. When the sea is not high, 
the port-holes in the gangways are opened as easily and 
frequently as those in the outer staterooms, and they give 
the draught to the inner rooms in quantity enough to suffice 
almost anybody. At night, doors are hooked so as to be 
open a few inches, or only the portieres are drawn, and at 
the top of the partition there are holes, so that when the sea 
permits ventilation, there is usually enough of it. The very 
largest boats have forced draught ventilation. The rooms 
nearest the stairs are likely to get the most air. 

" *r ♦ ^ 

In selecting a stateroom, if possible keep away from the 


42 


GOING x\BROAD? 


pantixcs, or, at any rate, in front of them; away from the 
machinery, and away from the toilet rooms, though in the 
newer boats the plumbing is so good that it matters little 
if you are next a toilet room. The rattle of the machinery, 
however, cannot be wholly deadened, and the smell of food 
is nauseating to almost everybody, whether it comes from the 
pantry of a floating palace or the galley of a fishing smack. 

A ticket on an ocean steamer entitles the bearer to one 
berth, not to a stateroom, and unless you pay extra or the 
boat is not full, you will have to share your room with at 
least one other person, frequently with two others, for three- 
berth cabins are common. Let only the most imperative 
necessity compel you to go four in a room. On some plans 
numbers are placed to designate berths which are really j 

couches, not ordinarily used unless a child is traveling with | 

its parents. On this point it will be well to get information j 

from the agent of whom you secure cabin plans. Of course, ! 

nobody else would be put in the same room with a husband 
and wife; in case no two-berth cabins were left, the couple [ 

would be separated, the husband being placed with other 
men and the wife with other women, but this would very ; 

rarely happen. 

There is no room for a full-sized trunk in a stateroom. | 

A steamer trunk is almost a necessity for anybody but the | 

hardy traveler of the male persuasion, who can sufflce his j 

wants with the contents of a grip-sack. The large trunks | 

are ordinarily stowed where they can be reached at certain ? 

hours in the day, but it is much better to arrange things so \ 

that you will not have to go to them. | 

SEASICKNESS. \ 

The great bane of the ocean voyage is seasickness. The | 

infallible remedy for it is yet to be found. Its mysteries defy | 

the doctors and delight the cranks. Let your friends know | 

you are going abroad and you will be told of enough medi- \ 

cines to stock a hospital. The most opposite methods of diet ? 

will be advised, one man telling you to eat all you can, the ^ | 

next advising temporary starvation. A breastplate of wrap- 
ping paper is a favorite absurdity. Only on one thing does | 


1 


HOW TO GO. 


43 


everybody agree, — fresh air. Stay on the deck as long as 
you can; after you have succumbed, force yourself to get 
out of your berth and on deck at the earliest moment your 
strength will permit. When you are nauseated, don’t resist 
Nature’s attempt to relieve you. Walk, walk, walk; and talk, 
talk, talk. Forget yourself if you can. The snobs who are 
“exclusive” on shipboard suffer the most from seasickness. 
Before you start, fortify yourself with the fact that perhaps 
a quarter of mankind and an eighth of womankind are mer- 
cifully preserved from being sick at sea at all; not one per- 
son in ten stays sick more than a day or two; and not one 
in fifty suffers through the whole voyage — suffers seriously, 
I mean, for there are not a few who never really get their 
sea-legs. 

The notion that seasickness is of itself a benefit, is, on 
the face of the thing, absurd. No sort of sickness can be 
beneficial. So avoid it if you can and get over it as soon as 
you can. Let the diet be simple and ordinary for a few days 
before going aboard, and reduce the hard work sure to be 
piled into the days before sailing, so that your system may be 
in better condition. As the disease is doubtless largely, if 
not wholly, nervous in its nature, a strong exercise of will 
power can lessen its tortures, if not save you from them. 
That is probably the secret of the success of various remedies 
with various people, — they get faith, believe they will not be 
sick, and so keep themselves from being sick. If you go 
aboard with the certainty that you will be sick, begin to cod- 
dle yourself as soon as the boat leaves the dock, study your 
symptoms minutely, and go below the moment the vessel 
begins to rock, you can make yourself sick as easily as you 
can faint away if you have a tendency in that direction and 
try hard. 

For the person who is sick willy-nilly, it may be sug- 
gested that the starved system cannot rally quickly, and that 
some nourishment of the simplest kind should be taken; 
anything that aids and quiets the stomach, like tea, may 
prove helpful, taken sparingly, but avoid the dishes called 
‘‘slops” in common parlance. Eschew soups for the first 
'^^enty-four hours; content vourself with dry meat and 


44 


GOING ABROAD? 


hard biscuit. Champagne has alleviated the misery of many 
a woebegone passenger, but the sceptics declare the cracked 
ice the real cause. Eno’s fruit salts are said to be good. 
Jamaica ginger has been efficacious, and credit is also given 
to a few drops of camphor in water. A cold salt-water bath 
sometimes expedites recovery. 

Every vessel has a physician, whose aid is at the service 
of all passengers requiring it, without charge. But, as in 
public hospitals on shore, patients are expected to pay if they 
can afford it. If you give what your family physician would 
have charged for like services, you will not get far out of 
the way. 

FEES, MEALS, BTC. 

At the end of a trip every passenger on a trans-Atlantic 
steamer is supposed to give fees. It is an unwritten law, but 
as binding as the English constitution. The amount to be 
given always worries the novice, who dreads giving too 
little, and usually begrudges giving too much. If you give 
$2.50 to the man who waits on you at table, and a like 
amount to the man or woman who takes care of your state- 
room, he or she will be perfectly satisfied; ‘that much and 
no more is expected; if more is given, you are thought gen- 
erous, but no benefit accrues to you, and often but slight 
benefit to the recipient, for frequently the receipts of all the 
stewards are pooled at the end of the trip, and then divided 
equitably. So, in making a large gift, you but present so 
much money to the whole body of stewards. 

For one, I see no reason why a head steward should be 
feed. It is virtually a duty to fee the under stewards, be- 
cause their wages are small, in the expectation that they will 
receive enough from passengers to make their earnings rea- 
sonable. This is not the case with the head steward or any- 
body else on the ship. The men who frequent the smoking 
room usually make up a purse for the smoking room stew- 
ard, but that is wholly a matter of generosity. The deck 
steward usually receives a small fee from those who have 
frequently called upon him for services, and the passenger 
who is seasick usually calls upon him a good deal. When 
there is a band, it is customary to take up a collection for 


HOW TO GO. 45 

its benefit, to which, doubtless, many contribute who would 
rather have paid to keep it quiet. 

All in all, probably the majority of passengers give be- 
tween five and ten dollars; married couples give between 
them little more than single passengers. And more is given on 
the outward than on the homeward trip, after novices find that 
feeing is for all but the American a matter of business and 
not of kindness. Steward’s fees are included in the passage 
money on a few boats, but your steward would probably feel 
unhappy if he didn’t get at least a dollar extra. 

Seats at table are allotted by the head steward imme- 
diately after the boat leaves the dock, and if you have any 
choice, you should interview him as soon as you get on 
board. If you have acquaintances on the passenger list, see 
the steward before the boat starts and give him in writing 
the names of the people who are friends. If you feel sure 
you will be seasick, induce him, if you can, to allot you a 
seat amidships; near the door is desirable, if that is not also 
near the pantry; and it is well to be on the same side of the 
boat as your room, and as near it as possible. On some of 
the smaller boats, when all berths are taken, it is necessary 
to have “first table” and second table” at noon and night. 
Usually you can have your choice. There is little reason 
for exercising it. Perhaps the first table people are hurried 
somewhat, and the second table people are likely to find 
the linen less fresh. Food and service are the same, of 
course. 

“Full dress” is not expected, and, indeed, would be 
thought ridiculous by most people. As a rule, passengers 
wear the same outer garments from one end of the trip to 
the other, morning, afternoon and evening. Negligee shirts 
are the rule with men. 

Wines are to be had at prices reasonable to one going 
from America, and dear to one returnin-g from Europe. Pay- 
ment is made before landing; you need not be afraid that the 
purser will forget to present his bill, accompanied by the slips 
you have signed every time you have ordered anything from 
the wine card. 

Time on shipboard is marked by the ship’s bell. One 


46 


GOING ABROAD? 


stroke of the tongue means that it is 12.30, 4.30, or 8.30. 
Two strokes: i, 5, or 9. Three, 1.30, 5.30, or 9.30; and so 
on, up to “eight bells,” as it is called, which may be 4, 8 or 
12 o’clock. The ship’s time is changed daily, and if you rely 
on your watch without changing each day, you may find 
yourself earlier or later at breakfast than you think for. 
The distance traveled each day is computed at noon, and 
posted conspicuously. 

The use of the bath rooms is free, but the steward ex- 
pects to be feed, like about everybody else who does any- 
thing for you, from the time you leave home till you get 
back. The barber charges for his services as on shore. 

Deck chairs are not provided by the steamboat com- 
panies. If you care to take your own “steamer chair,” you 
are at liberty so to do, but there is much less bother in 
hiring a chair from the company that makes a business of 
letting them. The price for the trip is usually a dollar, 
sometimes fifty cents. If you pay it when you get your ticket 
you will find the chair suitably labelled and waiting for you 
when the boat starts; usually there are enough extra ones 
aboard to make it possible for you to hire one from the deck 
steward, but it will be safer to make sure of that in ad- 
vance. It would be very poor economy to try to get along 
without one. 

On some boats the position assigned to the chairs on 
the first day is kept through the trip, and on such boats it is 
desirable to secure your location as soon as you get on 
board, the matter being arranged with the deck steward. 
On others the chairs remain where they are placed each 
morning, whether occupied or not, for it is not good form 
to move a chair not your own. At night the chairs are 
folded and stacked, and the early risers have their pick of 
positions. The crafty passenger will put his chair as near 
the middle of the boat as he can get it, away from the 
draught of a gangway, from the pantry ventilators, and from 
the smoking room door, if that opens on the promenade 
deck. And may he be forever seasick who defies the rule 
and puts his chair next the rail, where people want to walk! 


HOW TO GO. 


47 


First cabin passengers ordinarily are aiiowea free 20 
cubic feet of space in the hold for baggage (sotmething more 
than enough for two trunks of average size), paying 25 
cts. a cubic foot for extra space. Second cabin passengers 
gett 15 feet, steerage passenger's 10 feet. Once late in the 
voyage the baggage room is opened and passengers can 
reach their trunks if they wish. On the freight boats the 
trunks are sometimes left in the passage-way, where they can 
alwiays be reached. One passenger found this a great con- 
venience when her steamer trunk proved half an inch too 
htgh to go under the berth. 

Before the boat leaves the dock, keep your eye on your 
hand luggage. In the throng of visitors who come to say 
good-bye, thieves can mingle without arousing suspicion, 
and after the boat has started, losses are discovered too late 
to do anything about it. 

Friends are more kind than considerate when they send 
flowers to departing tourists. For a few hours the gift is 
delightful, but when the qualms of sea-sickness begin, the 
flowers must leave the stateroom, and by the time one can 
enjoy them again they are usually past enjoyment. Of course 
the woman who is not sea-sick can get as much pleasure 
out of a bouquet on ship as she can anywhere else; very 
likely it is more pleasurable there. But most women, alas! 
will detest a rose on the first morning out. So one who 
dares look a gift-horse in the mouth, would better suggest 
that parting tokens of good-will might better take the form 
of candy or cakes or olives or’ best of all, fruit. Indeed a 
basket of fruit is as solacing a thing as can be carried on an 
ocean trip. 

If you have had the forethought to bring along a 
stamped envelope or a postal card, and care to send anybody 
a line at the last minute, you can send it back by the tugboat 
that goes down the harbor with the steamer, or by the pilot. 
This hint may be particularly useful to anybody starting 
from Montreal. On the return voyage the St. Lawrence 
boats pick up the pilot at the mouth of the river, and letters 
addressed as the officials of the line may advise, will prob- 
ably reach passengers there. Thus your friends can get 


48 


GOING ABROAD? 


early news to you if you have so directed, and you may be 
sure that letters will never be more welcome. 

By the way, speaking of the St. Lawrence suggests that • 
it should not be overlooked in considering the port from 
which to sail. The St. Lawrence boats must go down or up 
the river between Montreal and Quebec in the daytime. So 
they leave Montreal in the early morning and touch at Que- 
bec in the afternoon for such passengers as may want to 
take them there; and on returning, if they reach Quebec too 
late to go up to Montreal that day, they lie over, thus on 
most trips giving passengers a chance to see the city. The 
St. Lawrence lines have the advantage of a sihorter ocean 
passage than any others, there being three days of the trip 
on the river or gulf; and as their course lies so far north, in 
summer it is reasonably sure to be cool, while more south- 
erly lines often have unpleasantly warm days at that season. 
On the other hand, the farther north the route, the more 
fo-gs and icebergs and the more chance of meeting their an- 
noyances or dangers. 

Coming back to the subject of letters, I may say that 
the provident passenger who desires to mail letters as soon 
as he lands will have provided himself in advance with post- 
age stamps of the country in which he is to disembark; they 
can usually be bought withcxut trouble in a money-changer’s 
office before going on board. The purser may have a few, 
but usually not enough to supply the demand. As one may 
land in Liverpool or elsewhere with hardly time to catch the 
outgoing mails, or may want to send letters ashore at 
Queenstown or Gibraltar, the precaution may be worth 
while. 

The prudent man or woman who expects to be sea-sick 
will arrange his or her effects in the stateroom before the 
boat gets out of the harbor. 

Distances at sea are measured in nautical miles of 6080 
feet, which correspond with the length of one-sixtieth of a 
degree of a great circle of the earth in latitude 48 degs. Thus 
the nautical mile is about 800 feet longer than the statute 
or land mile. The speed of a ship at sea is measured in 
knots, wihich are not theniiselves distances, but are measures 


HOW TO GO. 


49 


of speed, and therefore, though a knot is in length the same 
as a nautical mile, the term should not be used as synony- 
mous with mile. You may say that a boat has a speed of 20 
knots an hour, but don’t say that the distance across the 
ocean is 3000 knots. It may be convenient to remember that 
the fast boats average about 500 miles a day in good weather, 
the slow boats about 300 miles. When the boat travels with 
the sun, of course it scores more miles a day than when it 
is bound eastward. A fathom is 6 feet. 

Steamship companies seldom if ever advertise the ex- 
pected sailing time fro-m dock to dock. Commonly the an- 
nounced records are made from lightho'use to lighthouse, 
and this may be a very different thing from the time actually 
taken in getting across, for there are many delays in crossing 
bars and in getting up or down the harbor. Furthermore, 
advertised passage times are good^weather runs with all 
conditions favorable. Therefore it is rash to make appoint- 
ments or lay plans in the expectation that '‘a six-day boat” 
or “a nine-day boat” will put you ashore just six or nine 
days after you started. It may, and then again it may not. 
At least 24 hours is none too small a margin of safety in 
calculations. 

A cheap chart of the North Atlantic will be found an 
entertaining study on the way over, for the latitude and 
longitude are posted every noon, enabling one to trace the 
ship’s course from day to day if he cares to keep a record 
by himself. 

People who are amicably inclined and know when to 
stop will do their fellow-passengers a service by putting 
some music in their luggage, where it can be easily reached. 
But the pianist who strums within sound of sea-sick people 
will not get their blessings. 

All the large boats have libraries that are put at the ser- 
vice of passengers, but like most small libraries they abound 
in 'things you ought to read but won’t. A steward usually 
is put in charge of giving out the books. 

Speaking of books suggests to me the subject of dogs, 
in view of the fact that in Massachusetts and perhaps in 
some other States the public libraries get the dog tax. 


50 


GOING ABROAD? 


Whether ship libraries are so sustained I don’t kno-w, but 
perhaps they are, for dogs must pay their passage. It may 
cost from $io to $25, according to the size and value of 
the dog. The rule is that dogs, cats and monkeys must 
travel in cages, but I doubt if all dogs are so treated, for 
there are dogs and dogs. 

WORKING A PASSAGE. 

Young men with more h’ealth and strength than money, 
more grit than fastidiousness, can most economically make 
the European trip by crossing as stock tenders. Boats 
carrying kve stock leave all our larger ports from Montreal 
to Galveston. Passage over and back is given to the cattle- 
m'en. Formerly they were paid from $10 to $40 for the trip, 
but now, except in the winter season, men are plenty who 
are glad to go with only passage and food as the equivalent. 
The men are shipped either at the cattle yards or at some 
seaman’s employment office. Sometimes one may get pas- 
sage on a horse boat and then he will be with a little better 
class of men and have less work, but he must pay for his 
return passage, $12.50 being the usual charge, to be arranged 
with the manager of the horse department of the transporta- 
tion company before starting. Cattlemen who do not want 
to come back on the return voyage of the boat in which they 
cross, must make a special arrangement to thiat effect with 
the officials of the company. 

On the outward voyage the youth who goes on a cattle 
boat pays his way with interest. He rises at 4 in the morn- 
ing and works hard at feeding and watering the cattle till 8, 
when he gets his breakfast of “scouse,” a sort of diluted 
hash, with what passes for coffee. More work in the fore- 
noon and then dinner of “salt horse” and potatoes. Then 
lugging more hay and water to the cattle and then supper of 
“thin, bitter oatmeal and tea or coffee, as you may elect to 
call it,” to use the words of one college student who de- 
scribed his experience to me. Most of the fellows are then 
tired enough to climb into their bunks, but some go up on 
the spar deck if the weather is fine. A few are told off to 


HOW TO GO. 


51 

watch the cattle, for the steers are not to be all-owed to lie 
down during the entire voyage. 

In rough weather, with hatches battened and the iron 
decks made slippery by the water spilled in carrying rt to 
the cattle, the weak and sick cattlemen cursed and driven to 
their tasks wish they never had been born. Taken altogether, 
it is an experience that few lads care to repeat, but young 
men of the College age long for “experiences,” and this is 
not one of the sort that brings any permanent ill effects. 
stout, rugged youth who knows from work on the farm or 
in the factory what manual labor means, or who has gone 
through the training for a college team, and who is not 
dainty in his tastes, can do the thing without more than a 
brief spell of misery, tempered by the satisfaction of achiev- 
ing a journey that might otherwise be impossible. 

The surroundings are not altogether painful. Except 
on passenger boats the cattlemen have practically the free- 
dom of the ship in their off-hours, being allowed to go any- 
where except to the galleys, although the extreme forward 
and aft spar decks are conventionally allotted to them. 
They sleep in single bunks with straw mattresses that are 
said to be filled with fresh straw each trip, the bags holding 
the straw being steamed. My informant avers that the 
steam ought to be very hot to do its perfect work! On the 
return trip there is no work to be done, and the cattlemen 
loaf to their heart’s content. To eke out the ship’s victuals, 
they carry on board such delicacies as their purses may per- 
mit, and if it is a passenger boat the steward will not be 
averse to turning a penny by furnishing food from the sa- 
loon pantry. On the horse boats the men are called upon to 
work scarcely more than three hours a day. 

Western lads who contemplate a trip under these con- 
ditions may be glad to know that they can reach the sea- 
board very cheaply by traveling on stock trains. It is the 
custom of the railroads to allow a pass for one man with 
each car of stock, and it is not hard to get hold of a pass 
from a Western State to Chicago for a dollar. A similar 
pass from Chicago to New York may cost $6, for which one 
can get transportation in a passenger car attached to the 


52 


GOING ABROAD? 


fast stock express. No service is required of persons thus 
shipped with stock, the trainmen doing the work. 

A party of college men whom I saw make the trip, rode 
their bicycles to the boat, and had them put in the hold un- 
crated. Mounting their wheels at the Liverpool dock as 
soon as the boat landed, they started on a tour that need not 
have cost them all told $50 for a two months’ absence from 
the States, during which time they could see all the things in 
Great Britain and on the Continent that excursion tourists 
see, with a great deal of the most interesting part that the 
usual excursionist never sees. 


CHy\PTER IV. 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD. 

Railway cars abroad are divided by partitions parallel 
with the end of the car, into compartments. Ordinarily these 
are entered by doors in the sides of the car, thoug-h now and 
then, as in some parts of Switzerland, you find a car entered 
from the end and with an aisle passing through the partitions 
by means of doors. On a few through trains you may find 
cars with an aisle running the length of the car, along one 
side, from which you step through doors into the compart- 
ments. In England they are slowly making some approach 
to our American cars. 

Every train has doors labelled ‘T.,” which denotes a 
first-class compartment. Save in England there are always 
other doors labelled “II.,” which denotes second-class. And 
save on some of the express trains of the Continent, there 
are still others labelled “HI.,” for third-class. In Prussia 
there are also fourth-class compartments. 

Some of the English roads have done away with second- 
class, others have reduced their second-class fares nearly to 
the third-class level. Furthermore, the third-class accommo- 
dations in England vary very much. It is, therefore, hard 
to generalize on the topic in its relations to travel in Great 
Britain, but with some reservations it may be assumed that 
my remarks on second-class compartments apply also to the 
third-class compartments of the through trains, not the local 
trains, of English roads that have no second-class. 

The only important difference between a first and second- 
class compartment is that the first-class has ordinarily eight 
seats to a compartment, four looking front and four back, — 
the second-class has ordinarily ten, one more on each side. 
When all the seats are taken this is a slight disadvantage 
against the second-class, but that very rarely happens, not 
once in fifty rides. Indeed, there are seldom more than four 


S3 


54 


GOING ABROAD? 


people in a first or second-class compartment, — or perhaps 
I would better say it is generally possible to find a com- 
partment, if you wish, that has not more than two or three 
occupants. In several months’ journeying on the Continent, 
two of us had second-class compartments to ourselves more 
than two-thirds of the time, and never tipped the guard. 
That, however, might not be the case on the main lines of 
travel in July and August. 

As far as train motion goes, there is not the slightest 
difference between the compartments. Often the same car 
will have compartments of all three classes, and of course 
each gets the jar and jolt alike. Our Pullmans ride more 
easily than what we call day-coaches, but that is not the case 
abroad. 

In cleanliness some travelers declare the first-class com- 
partments superior to the second-class, but there is really 
no difference in Germany, little in England and France, 
usually little in Italy. 

One Englishman told me jocosely that after much trav- 
eling in Germany, the only difference he could find between 
first and second-class was that one was upholstered in green 
and the other in red. 

In cost the proportions, averaged from fares in many 
countries, are, except for the English lines that have low- 
ered their second-class fares: First-class, $i; second-class, 

$0.73; third-class, $0.52. In other words, speaking in round 
numbers, first-class costs a third more than second; third- 
class, a third less than second, and half as much as first. 

Why, then, have the English any justification for their 
proverb that ‘‘only Americans and fools travel first-class,” 
or, as they sometimes put it more brutally, “only dogs and 
Americans,” with the dogs first, mind you! 

Simply because there is more false pride in democratic 
America than in aristocratic Europe. 

The head of the Cambrian railroad, a line where the 
third-class corresponds to second-class on the Continent, 
stated not long ago that ten years back the number of pas- 
sengers carried in the first and second-class carriages 
amounted to about 10 per cent, of the entire transportation 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD. 


55 


of his railway system, but that there had been a steady fall- 
ing off, and in the previous year the number of first and 
second-class passengers was about 2 per cent of the whole. 
That shows what Englishmen think of the accommodations 
mainly chosen by Americans and fools. In England, re- 
member, third-class corresponds to second-class on the Con- 
tinent, and is equivalent to our day coach accommodations. 

If first-class meant the comfort and luxury of our Pull- 
man cars, the circumstances would be far different, but that 
is not so. A few through trains have various brands of what 
in their ignorance they deem luxury, but an American sniffs 
at their quality and is outraged by their enormous cost. 
Only the very wealthy ever think of paying for them. 

There are, indeed, but two logical reasons w'hy an 
American should travel first rather than second. One is 
that the second-class compartments are the more likely to 
be crowded. Yet I have been in crowded compartments of 
both classes, and as I said above, have easily found solitude 
the greater part of the time when traveling second-class. 
The other reason is akin to the first, — that in a first-class 
compartment you are sure of the best of company if you 
have any, while in the second-class compartment you may 
have to pass 'hours with unpleasant people. But as the 
peasants always go third-class, and as the smoking compart- 
ments naturally take the men traveling alone, this reason 
seldom has force. You have to run the risk of riding with 
children possessed of lungs, but even members of the nobility 
have been known to have children, and have been known to 
journey with them. 

Englishmen traveling on the Continent almost invariably 
go second-class, and what is good enough for an English 
squire or an English clergyman and his family, ought to be 
good enough for most Americans. 

Nearly all Americans who buy their railroad tickets in 
advance, who arrange for circular tours or go with personally 
conducted parties, buy first-class rail tickets. As they get 
no experience of second-class travel, mistrust their advice. 
The wisest thing you can do is to wait till you get there and 
have seen and tried it, or else to do what you will be told 


56 


GOING ABROAD? 


to do by nine out of ten Americans who have made any 
stay abroad, — travel second-class. 

In Great Britain, on what the Englishman deems a long 
journey, the third-class compartments of express trains are 
likely to be found satisfactory, for such trains are little used 
by people who would be objectionable traveling companions. 
Indeed, one may like his company in the third-class better 
than in the second, since it is not uncommon for the very 
rich to have their valets and maids travel second. A guard 
at Liverpool advised me to go to London third rather than 
second. It should be remembered, however, that the third- 
class compartments of through trains starting from Liver- 
pool or any other port right after the arrival of a big 
steamer carrying many steerage passengers, are very likely 
to be crowded with them. 

On local trains in Great Britain the bulk of the third- 
class travel is of the mixed variety, with boors and bores 
numerous. So for any short journey I should advise the 
well-to-do tourist to take second-class where it exists, or 
otherwise first-class; and I would counsel any tourist who 
can afford it to shun the miserable, dirty third-class com- 
partments of the lines running south from London. 

Third-class compartments are often not found on Con- 
tinental express trains, and where they are offered, an extra 
charge for the fast travel is customary. The peasants, who 
must of course travel as cheaply as possible, generally use 
the accommodation trains, so that tourists who need to 
economize can without much risk of annoyance go third- 
class on the fast trains. In Germany and Switzerland the 
third-class accommodations are exceptionally good, and on 
the ‘^Government lines” in France they are very fair, but on 
most of the French lines and generally elsewhere on the 
Continent the third-class compartments are dirty, with 
wooden benches uncushioned, and used almost wholly by the 
peasantry and working people. Many an American who 
must husband his resources uses them altogether and comes 
home none the worse for it, but a woman traveling alone 
should .have strong reasons to induce her to risk their dis- 
comforts. Small parties can resort to them better than per- 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD. 


57 


sons journeying singly, for a group of people by tipping the 
guard can usually keep a compartment to themselves where 
it would be hard for one or two to accomplish it. The soli- 
tary traveler by the use of the tip can usually secure that 
none but respectable people shall be admitted into the com- 
partment. 

Only under most unusual circums-tances will anyone be 
obliged to stand, for, the holder of a ticket is entitled to a 
seat, and if there are more passengers than seats extra cars 
are added. If all the seats are occupied in a compartment 
of the class for which you have bought your ticket, you are 
entitled to a seat in a compartment of the next higher grade 
if it has a seat empty. So if you have a second-class ticket 
and can find no vacant second-class seat, don’t get into a 
third-class compartment, but take first-class without com- 
punction. An exception to the rule about standing is the 
Prussian fourth-class compartment, which no tourist should 
use except as a last resort. As the peasants travel fourth- 
class in Prussia, third-class is likely to be less objectionable 
there than elsewhere so far as companionship goes, and is 
frequently used by the upper classes for even short journeys. 

Entire compartments can be reserved in advance, but on 
some roads the privilege is restricted to those of the first- 
class. The regulations vary, but as a rule tickets must be 
bought to the num/ber of two less than there are seats in the 
compartment. For example, to reserve a lo-seat compart- 
ment of the second-class on a “Government line” in France, 
eight tickets must be bought. To reserve a first-class com- 
partment on a main line express train of the London & 
North Western, four tickets must be taken, and the station 
master at point of departure must be notified in writing two 
hours in advance at a terminal station, a day in advance at 
an intermediate station. Most travelers will take their 
chances on securing the desired result by tipping the guard. 

There are always compartments reserved for women, 
into which no man may penetrate; even if such a compart- 
ment be empty, the guard will eject the man who takes a 
seat there. 


58 


GOING ABROAD? 


SLEEPING, DINING, AND SMOKING. 

Sleeping cars are now found on almost all the through 
lines of Great Britain and the Continent. In Great Britain 
not many journeys are long enough to give occasion for 
their use. The charge there is not much higher than with 
us, a specimen pric*e being $1.25 from London to Glasgow, 
in addition to the ordinary first-class fare. On many of the 
Continental routes the charge is exorbitant. For instance, 
the price from Paris to Marseilles, a i3-hou-r run, is $9 in 
■addition to the fir.st-class fare, and that is typical of the 
French rates. German rates are not so bad; the fi^st-ciass 
•charge from Cologne to Berlin, for example, about nine 
hours, is $2.50. German roads have both first and second- 
class sleeping compartments, with little or no difference ex- 
cept in price, the second-class rate averaging a quarter less 
than first-class. The 'berths in European sleeping cars are 
even more uncomfortable than ours, and their cost makes it . 
safe for the well person not pressed for time to lay down 
the rule never to travel by night if he can possibly help it. 
Yet Dr. Linn says that for invalids he prefers night travel. 
He says that it is better for a person in ill-health to get over 
a journey than to ride all day, perhaps on the sunny side of 
a carriage, and arrive tired at night to stop over in a strange 
hotel. His experience is that one is more tired out by stopping 
over one night on the road than by going through. The 
best -way of all for invalids is to take a short day -journey 
and stay from three days to a week at each place. 

Distances are seldom so long that night travel cannot be 
avcided, though here and there comes a stretch, as between 
Paris and Switzerland, where there is no place at which it 
is worth while to stop over for sight-seeing, and the day 
trains do not run conveniently, so that a night journey is 
almost a necessity. Under such conditions most Europeans 
get a corner in an ordinary compartment, wrap themselves 
in a traveling rug, and doze as best they can. Pillow’s and 
rugs can be hired at many of the large stations for ten cents 
or so apiece. 

Dining cars have come into use abroad much more 
slowly than with us, because journeys there average so much 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD. 


59 


shorter than ours. In England the system has of late years 
been greatly improved, and the trunk lines now makj a 
point of their dining facilities in their advertising. Dining 
cars are run for each class of passengers. The prices on 
the London & North Western may serve as examples: Table 
d'hote breakfast in a first-class car, 75 cts. ; second and third- 
class, 62 cts. Luncheon, first-class, 62 cts.; second and third, 
50 cts. Table d’hote dinner, first-class, 87 cts.; second and 
third, 62 cts. Refreshments are also served a la carte at buffet 
charges as by daily bill of fare. Restaurant and dining cars 
are also now run on many of the principal day express trains 
of the Continent. Through trains on long journeys usually 
make stops long enough for meals, and the station restau- 
rants have somewhat better food and service than most of 
ours, but there are very few attractive railroad restaurants 
anywhere in the world, and many a wise traveler prefers to 
take something with him in the car. Europeans recognize 
the body and all its functions more frankly than do Ameri- 
cans, and to eat away from a table is not held to be in such 
bad taste there as many of our people seem to think it. A 
hamper goes to the races with every party, and every excur- 
sion becomes a picnic. As good water is not always to be 
had quickly, those who are not averse to wine will see that a 
bottle of it is provided in advance. In Germany beer is 
offered at the car windows at nearly every stopping place, — 
sometimes milk. Sandwiches are usually to be procured. 

For those to whom economy is an object, it may not be 
useless to suggest that when a hotel keeper puts up a 
luncheon, it is commonly poor in quality and rich in price. 
Half the money if spent at bake-shops and fruit-stands will 
give much more palatable results. 

The English roads have made a notable advance over 
ours in developing a basket luncheon system. They inform 
their patrons that a basket luncheon will be put on board at 
any one of several stations. The price is 75 cts. for a 
basket properly fitted, and containing half a chicken, with 
ham or tongue or a portion of cold beef, salad, ice, bread, 
cheese, butter, etc., with either half a bottle of claret, bur- 
gundy or hock, two glasses of sherry, or a bottle of ale or 


6o 


GOING ABROAD? 


stout; price without beer or wine, 62 cts. If a hot luncheon 
is desired at the same price, it can be secured by notifying 
the guard at a preceding stopping place. 

All trains have compartments for smokers, and a woman 
has no business to enter them unless smoking is not objec- 
tionable to her. Whether, if a woman does enter, the occu- 
pants should cease smoking, is a question of ethics every man 
must answer for himself. Most Europeans would not think 
of stopping. Some Americans will stop any way, and few will 
keep on with unmixed pleasure, even though the woman says 
.she does not object. 

Other first and second-class compartments have notices 
to the effect that smoking is forbidden, but the prohibition is 
a dead letter unless a woman is in the compartment or un- 
less some man objects. In Spain, where smoking is univer- 
sal, a woman who dislikes it would better travel first-class 
always. Once in a second-class compartment there, before 
daylight, six Spanish traveling companions were smoking 
cigarettes, and not a window open; yet the solitary Spanish 
woman in the car seemed not to mind it an atom. On an- 
other occasion, in a first-class compartment, a stylishly 
dressed Spaniard entered, smoking a cigarette, and finding 
an American woman there, asked in the most courteous of 
Castilian manners if she objected to his continuing it. She 
could not speak Spanish, but as smoking was not objection- 
able to her, tried to assent by gestures. When she put her 
fingers to her lips, he misinterpreted her meaning, and, tak- 
ing out his cigarette case, offered her a cigarette, and seemed 
surprised that she did not accept. 

RAIL DETAIL. 

“Railroad’^ is the commoner term in America; ‘‘railway” 
in England. The English “guard” performs the duties of 
our “conductor” and “brakeman”; the English “driver” 
those of our “engineer”; the English “pointsman” those of 
our “switchtender.” We speak of the “cars,” they of the 
“train.” A “depot” in England is a freig'ht depot; the build- 
ing for passengers is a “station,” or if at the end of the line 
it may be referred to as the “terminus.” Our “baggage car” 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD. 


6i 


is their ‘Van”; our “freig’ht train” their “goods train”; c ir 
“accommodation train” their “Parliamentary train.” They 
refer to what we call a “round-trip ticket” as a “return”; and 
they call a ticket-office a “booking office.” The rails are to 
us a “track”; to them a “line.” They talk of “box” and 
“bag” where we talk of “trunk” and “valise.” 

“Bradshaw” is the English synonym for time-table, just 
as “Baedeker” or “Murray” is for guide-book. The “Con- 
tinental Bradshaw” contains detailed time-tables that may be 
relied upon, besides a great deal of useful information, and 
it is well worth while trying to find room for it in your bag. 
As with us, local time-tables in pamphlet form are sold for 
a pittance, and are sometimes very handy. It is not wise to 
trust the hotel porters too impli'citly in the matter of trains. 
They are familiar with the times of the throngh trains most 
commonly used, but for local trains and all unu-sual trips it 
is safer to hunt up the facts in the time-tables. 

The cars have no stoves, and the European has not yet 
dreamed of heating his cars by steam from the locomotive. 
In winter flattened cylinders of tin or copper, filled with hot 
water or some chemical compound that retains heat, are laid 
on the floors of the compartments and mitigate the cold, 
without really warming the car. A rug is an inevitable 
feature of every Englishman’s traveling outfit. An American 
may well take along with him the rug he has used on the 
steamer, employing it as a bundle covering when not needed 
for warmth, but from June to Octcfber he can safely dispense 


with it. 

At any time of year, however, a rug or shawl may prove 
a convenience for night travel. A clever way of arranging 
it is to fasten one corner to the rack above, sit on the oppo- 
site corner, and fold the other two corners around the body. 
This makes a sort of upright hammock that supports the 
back, lessens the vibration, and prevents the head of a dozing 
traveler from dropping on a neighbor’s shoulder. 

A few cars have toilet conveniences, but they are often 
accessible only from the outside of the car, and so cannot 
be entered when the train is in motion. The stops at impor- 
tant stations, however, are usually long enough to serve. In 


62 


GOING ABROAD? 


this matter European cities are far ahead of those of Amer- 
ica, but European railroads are far behind. 

The average speed, on the Continent at least, is less than 
in the States, but in England a few trains have speeds ex- 
celling the fastest on most of our roads. Usually tickets 
for the through trains are lo per cent, higher than those for 
accommodation trains, but the time saved is worth ten times 
the extra cost. What we should call the “limited” train 
from Rome to Naples takes 5 1-2 hours; the express, 61-4; 
and the accommodation, ii hours. Distance, 162 miles. 

Trains are more nearly on time than with us. Once in 
Germany I took an all-day ride, with seven changes of cars, 
for it was “cross country,” and the connections were so 
close that nowhere was there time enough for a luncheon, 
and yet not a train was late in arriving or starting. 

Trains in Great Britain, Belgium and Holland run on 
Greenwich (West Europe) time; in Switzerland, Italy, Den- 
mark, Sweden, Germany, Austria and Servia on mid- 
European time, one hour faster than Greenwich; in Rouma- 
nia, Bulgaria and part of Turkey on east-European time, two 
hours faster than Greenwich; in France the outside station 
clocks show Paris time, but the inside clocks, by which the 
trains are worked, are five minutes, slower. 

“Catching a train” is a habit almost unknown abroad; 
even the American seldom indulges in it. Without a protest 
you get in the way of reaching the station from fifteen min- 
utes to half an hour ahead of time. And there are good 
reasons for it. The earlier you get there, the better seat you 
may find; and your ignorance of the language makes it 
desirable to allow for possible delays in getting your ticket 
and attending to your luggage. On the Continent you will 
frequently see notices that luggage will not be received with- 
in 15 (or 10) minutes before the train starts, but the rule is 
not rigidly observed. 

Unless by special permission, nobody is allowed on the 
platform without a ticket. An official stands at the door of 
the waiting room to see that you have it. This door is 
closed before the train starts. If by hook or crook you got 
through after the wheels began to revolve, and jumped on 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD. 


63 


the train while it was in motion, at the next station you 
would, in Germany, at least, be ordered off, taken before a 
magistrate, and fined. 

Trains pass each other on the left, so that where there 
are two tracks, as is ordinarily the case, the passenger should 
seek the platform that will bring his destination to the left 
as he faces the track. At the large stations there is a bridge 
over the tracks or a subway under them, and it is strenuously 
prohibited to walk across the road-bed. 

TRUNKS AND LUGGAGE. ^ 

On British railways there is no checking system corre- 
sponding to ours. A porter takes the trunk, pastes a label 
on it, and in due time deposits it in the van. If the passen- 
ger does not see that the luggage is properly labelled and 
put in the right van, the railways are said not to be responsi- 
ble if it goes astray. On arriving at his destination, the 
passenger goes to the van, picks out his luggage and dis- 
poses of it as he pleases. The American thinks this a shift- 
less, dangerous way of doing business, but as a matter of 
fact things are rarely lost, and one can get his luggage -on a 
cab and start away from the station in a third of the time it 
takes at any of the big city stations of America. 

On the Continent what is virtually a checking system is 
in use, though one gets a slip of paper instead of a brass or 
card tag, and the process is referred to as ‘‘registering” in- 
stead' of “checking.” 

The leading English roads have recently adopted a sort 
of registration system, whereby for a fee of 12 cents a pack- 
age they undertake to collect luggage at the residence and 
deliver it at any point within the usual cartage distance 
from the station of destination. The passenger ticket must 
be bought before the luggage is collected, and the luggage 
should be given into custody a day before the possenger in- 
tends to journey, if he desires to make sure that it will ar- 
rive as soon as he will. The luggage can be sent “Till called 
for,” in which case it will be held at the cloak room of the 
station of destination, with a left-luggage charge of two cents 
a day, if not removed within three days. By the way, it may 


64 


GOING ABROAD? 


be useful to bear in mind that nearly all the stations abroad 
have parcel or cloak rooms where hand luggage may be left 
while one sees the town; if not, a porter will be glad to take 
it in charge for a trivial fee. 

Luggage can be registered through from America to 
almost any point in Europe; from London to most of the 
cities on the Continent, but passengers for Italy can register 
it only to the frontier, where it must be again registered; 
there is usually a free allowance of 56 pounds on luggage 
registered from London, whatever the customary allowance 
on the lines over which it is to pass. 

Every railway station in Europe is provided with por- 
ters, whose business it is to carry luggage to and from the 
trains. One can go through Europe without ever touching 
his luggage, except to pack and unpack it. When the porter 
opens the car door, you are of course at liberty to accept 
his services or not. He is usually importunate, but if you 
shake your 'head positively and keep a grip on 3^our things, 
he will hurry off to find some more willing victim. If you 
let him take your things, he expects a fee of what would be 
four cents in our money. As in the case of all fees, there is 
not the slightest reason why you should give more than the 
usual thing. The English roads print an announcement that 
their servants ‘‘are strictly prohibited from receiving gratu- 
ities, and passengers are urgently requested to abstain from 
giving them money; and any servant of the company de- 
tected accepting a gratuity will be liable to fine or dismi'ssal.’* 
Nobody ever heard of the rule's being enforced, and every- 
body gives just the same, but the British traveler complains 
bitterly of the American folly of giving six-pences or shill- 
ings instead of “tuppence.” 

For taking a trunk or box from the cab or bus to the 
weighing room, there is on the Continent usually a schedule 
price of five cents that goes to the head porter; if you care 
to give something extra to the man who carries it, that is 
your own lookout. You do not have to pay anybody for 
putting your trunk on or off the cars, but you may be very 
sure that if the baggage smasher knew to whom the trunk 
belonged, he, too, would expect a fee. 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD. 


65 


You are allowed to take with you free as much luggage 
as you can get into the compartment. (There is a weight 
limit on hand luggage, but I never knew it enforced.) As 
to trunks, the custom in England is much the same as with 
us, — no questions asked unless your trunks are heavy and 
many. In the rare cases when the rule is enforced, it per- 
mits 1 12 pounds free to first-class passengers, 80 to second- 
class, and 60 to third-class. On the Continent perhaps three- 
quarters of the roads carry no trunks free. In France one 
is allowed 66 pounds on each ticket (only 55 pounds when 
going to another country), so Uiat two persons traveling 
with one trunk get along without much extra cost. The 
excess costs about two-thirds of a cent a mile for each 100 
pounds. Spanish roads make the same allowance. In 
Italy, with no weight free, the cost is about seven-tenths of 
a cent a mile for each hundred pounds, so thait a very heavy 
trunk, or two light trunks, may cost as much as a third- 
class passenger ticket. In Germany the custom varies, 
Prussian roads allowing 66 pounds. South German roads 
charging for all. On the Swiss, Belgian, Dutch and Alsatian 
lines, one must pay for every pound of luggage put on the 
van. In Austria and Denmark there is an allowance of 55 
pounds, in Russia of 36 pounds. 

If you are averse to having railway labels or the adver- 
tising labels of hotels pasted on your luggage, provide a 
tag and tell the railway or hotel porter, as the case may be, 
that the label is to be put on it. 

In most countries of Europe trunks are safe enough 
when out of your sight, but that is not the case in Italy. 
The train men there seem to have got into the unpleasant 
habit of spending their time between stations in exploring 
the baggage. The last trunk robbery is a staple subject of 
conversation at Italian hotel tables. Even the Queen had 
two valuable dresses stolen while going from Venice to 
■ Monza. One lady lost a precious bracelet, set with large 
Indian diamonds, and when the authorities were informed of 
it, they only expressed polite regret that anybody should 
have had “so little delicacy'’ as to steal her jewels. The 
only protection is in cording the trunk, besides locking it 


66 


GOING ABROAD? 


(for they do not hesitate to break locks), and in sealing the 
knots in the cords; a leaden seal is preferable, but if this is 
not easily procured, sealing wax may suffice; usually the 
porter at the hotel will attend to the sealing when asked. 
Instances are known, however, where seals have been broken 
and replaced, the trunks rifled, and no satisfaction obtained 
from the authorities, so that the safest course is to carry 
jewels on your person, so securely stowed away that pick- 
pockets cannot get at them. These gentlemen are plentiful 
in Italy, and elsewhere in Europe. Augustus J. Hare, the 
guide-book writer, while entering a railway carriage in Flor- 
ence not long ago, lost* by their dexterity a pocket-book 
containing nearly $500, and at last accounts, though the men 
had been arrested, he had not recovered his money. 

FARES AND TICKETS. 

The cost of railway tickets on the Continent is somewhat 
greater than in our Eastern States, but smaller than in our 
West and South. On one journey I kept a record of every 
ticket bought while traveling 2700 miles second-class by 
short stages, through eight countries, and found I had aver- 
aged to pay $0.0266 a mile. On the same journey first-class 
fares would have averaged $0.0364 a mile; third-class, $0,189. 
On any one road, the price per mile is the same whether you 
travel five miles, fifty, or five hundred, except in the few re- 
gions where the zone system of rates prevails, and the ordi- 
nary travel does not find those. So there is no economy of 
money in buying through tickets. Unless you are sure that 
you will take at a stretch the whole of any given journey, 
buy your ticket only to the place where you may want to 
stop off. 

Fares in Great Britain are on the whole somewhat higher 
than those of the Continent. The average of a dozen trips 
aggregating 787 miles figures out very close to 4 cents for 
first-class; 2 1-2 for second; 2 cents for third. 

The price of tickets is printed on the time-tables hung up 
in the stations; and in the time-table books that are issued 
for each road or region, and sold at a small price on all the 
railway news-stands. They are handy things to have. 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD. 


67 


These books also print the lists of excursion tickets 
offered by the various roads, — for what are called ‘‘circular 
tours.” They are numerous, attractive, ' and cheap, saving 
the traveler from 10 to 50 per cent, if he can match his plans 
to them. These tickets are what Cook and Gaze sell. They 
have their advantages and their disadvantages. The agent 
does noft sell you the ticket any cheaper than you can buy 
it from the railroad, but he talks English and can explain 
and discuss routes with you. 

The tourists’ agencies now operating in Europe are hon- 
orably conducted, and are of great help to a large part of the 
traveling public. Their representatives are almost invariably 
courteous gentlemen, glad to be of service to any English- 
speaking person, whether a patron or not. As it is for their 
interest that all the inconveniences and uncertainties of travel 
shall be lessened as far as possible, I am sure they will have 
no criticism to make on a frank and clear statement of what 
they can and cannot do in this matter of railway tickets, as 
in whatever other matters may come up. 

It may be further said, then, that an excursion ticket is 
of advantage to any one with definite plan not likely to be 
altered. It is desirable for any one who knows little or 
nothing of the language of the country through which he is 
to travel. It avoids the chance of loss through the mis- 
takes (sometimes intentional) of railway station ticket sellers. 
It lessens the amount of money to be carried, and the loss in 
changing money from one currency to another. In some 
cases it secures the services of honest interpreters at railway 
stations. 

On the other hand: It restricts you to a route chosen 

in advance, leaving no chance to act on the advice of tourists 
you may meet on the road. Where you might have had your 
choice of rail or boat if buying tickets as you went along, 
it compels a mode of travel that the weather may not suit. 
Once started, it may or may not permit option between first, 
second and third-class. If it takes you from one country into 
another, it is sold at the face value of the currency of the 
country into which you are going, and not at its depreciated 
value. For instance, a circular tour ticket bought at Paris 


68 


GOING ABROAD? 


to cover part of Italy, or a through ticket from Paris to 
Rome, will be sold on the assumption that the Italian unit, 
the lira, is worth the same as the French unit, the franc, but 
the lira is of paper and of depreciated value, so that lo per 
cent, or so is lost in paying for it on the franc basis. Like- 
wise .the Spanish peseta is depreciated, and a circular tour 
ticket for Southern Spain, bought in Gibraltar and paid for 
on the basis of the pound sterling, costs much more than 
the same fares paid for at the Spanish ticket offices, by 
reason of what can be made in exchanging English pounds 
for Spanish pesetas. 

The conditions attached to the use of circular tour ticketvS 
must be thoroughly understood and literally followed. The 
ticket must be stamped at every place where you stop off. If 
you forget this or deviate at all from the route or try to 
reverse the direction, or omit part of the route without 
proper stamping, you will get into trouble. 

Two classes of tickets are offered, one for routes ar- 
ranged by the railway company, the other arranged to suit 
the wants of the individual traveler — ready-made and custom- 
made, as it were. The ready-made variety can be had at 
little or no notice, but it may take two days to put the cus- 
tom-made together. The ready-made are usually the less 
hampered by conditions and restrictions but are seldom 
issued to third-class passengers. The custom-made are 
usually issued for all three classes. A time limit is attached, 
and sometimes the tickets allow only hand luggage. 

Round trip or return tickets at a reduced price are the 
common thing abroad, so the tourist in making trips ‘‘out 
and back” would better always inquire the price of both the 
single and return tickets. 

Switzerland, where the railways are under government 
control, has introduced a novel form of excursion ticket, 
something after the style of the annual pass that too many 
Americans carry. The Swiss plan is to sell a ticket good for 
a specified number of days on any line in the country, ex- 
cept the inclined railways that run up the mountain sides. 
The buyer’s photograph must be attached to the ticket. It 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD. 69 

means a considerable saving to anyone who plans to go 
about the country much in a limited time. 

Italy has imposed a tax on all railway tickets that in- 
creases the published price by about 10 per cent. As this is 
not printed on the ticket, the uninformed traveler may think 
that the ticket-seller has given him the wrong change. The 
ticket-seller is supposed to write the correct price on the 
back of the ticket, but this is not always done. The tax may 
not be permanent, and perhaps it will have been removed 
before this is read. 

Children travel free up to the age of 3 years through- 
out the greater part of the Continent; in Austria and 
Switzerland, up to 2 years. In Norway and Sweden half 
price is charged between 3 and 12; in Austria and Switzer- 
land, between 2 and 10. In Germany two children under 10 
travel on one ticket; a single child pays third-class fare to 
travel second; second-class to travel first. In Belgium 
three-quarters fare is charged for children from 3 to 8; in 
France, half fare from 3 to 7. In Great Britain it is half fare 
from 3 to 12 inclusive. When you are buying a ticket for a 
child, it is always advisable to let the ticket-seller see the 
child. 

In Scandinavia the odd custom prevails of letting a man 
and his wife, father and son, or teacher and pupil, travel for 
a fare and a half. 

BY BOAT. 

American travelers making the customary tours are sel- 
dom brought in contact with the fact that regular lines of 
coasting steamers are exceedingly numerous abroad. Yet 
occasionally it may be desirable to utilize them, either for 
the sake of economy or from motives of comfort if sea- 
travel is agreeable. For instance, one who has gone north 
from London may want to reach Holland or Belgium or 
France more cheaply than by traversing England again in 
the cars, or as easily as a steamboat permits. Lists of all 
these co<ast lines may be found in Cook’s Continental Time 
Table, sold for a shilling at any of Cook’s offices. 

The boat service on the west coast of Scotland is par- 


70 


GOING ABROAD? 


ticularly excellent. Steamers reach the Iste of Man from 
every direction. Excursions are advertised all through the 
summer from Liverpool down the Welsh coast, and others 
may be found all along the Channel and from the resorts on 
the East coast. 

American tourists ordinarily reach Scandinavian ports 
by crossing the North Sea from England. A steamer leaves 
Hull every Thursday about noon for Bergen, Aalesund, 
Christiansand, Drontheim (Trondhjem), and Stavanger. 
Everv Friday for Christiania and Copenhagen; every Satur 
day for Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Hango, Stockholm and 
St. Petersburg. From Newcastle a steamer leaves for Ber- 
gen every Thursday at 6 p. m., calling at Stavanger. For 
Drontheim (Trondhjem) a steamer leaves every Tuesday at 
6 p. m., calling at Bergen, Aalesund, Christiansand, etc. 
These boats from Newcastle also run in connection with 
Scandinavian coast steamship lines, which latter touch at the 
principal points on the Norwegian coas-t. From Grimsby 
a steamer leaves every Wednesday midnight for Gothenburg 
(40 hours) and every Tues>day evening for Malmo and Hel- 
singborg (60 hours), also every Monday and Thursday even- 
ing for Esbjerg (30 hours). From Harwich a steamer leaves 
for Esbjerg every Monday, Thursday and Saturday in con- 
nection with the 7.15 p. m. Great Eastern Railway train from 
London. There is also a sailing every Friday and Saturday 
from Grantion (Scotland) to Scandinavian ports, and from 
Grangemouth (Scotland) every Wednesday for Norwegian 
ports; and from Leith (Scotland) there is a sailing every 
Thursday to .Scandinavian ports, and to Continental ports 
every Wednesday and Saturday. 

First-class tickets come much nearer being necessary on 
European steamboats than on European railways. As a rule 
the best accommodations on the boats are none too good. 
The best known boats, those crossing the English Channel, 
would not be tolerated on lines of equal importance in Amer- 
ica; they draw only six or seven feet of water, which is one 
reason why they are so sure to make passengers sea-sick 
when the water is the least bit rough. But don’t think that 
inevitable. I -have crossed the channel when from one side 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD. 


71 


to the other we could not see anything that properly could 
be called a wave. Then again, on a bright afternoon, with 
the wind far from a gale, I 'have seen waves drench passen- 
gers -on the upper deck. The woman whose gown may be 
spoiled by spray should wear a waterproof or else get a seat 
in one of the deck shelters if she does not care to go below 
and the water is rough. I noticed that the English tourist 
experienced in crossing the Channel took pains, as soon as he 
got on board, to pre-empt one of these shelter -seats by put- 
ting his hand luggage in it. Many apprehensive women lie 
down as soon as they bcxard a Channel steamer. 

So much is the Channel crossing dreaded that the quick- 
est passage, from Dover to Calais, has always 'been preferred, 
and the fares from London to Paris are half as mudh again 
as by the Newhaven-Dieppe route, which 'has about three 
times as much water to cross. In pleasant summer weather, 
'however, the traveler not uncommonly susceptible to sea- 
sickness may well save his money by taking the longer route, 
particularly if he enjoys boat travel. It may be, indeed, that 
he will run less risk of nausea, for the tides run swiftest and 
the Channel is most choppy where it is most narrow. 

We found the day crossing from Southampton to the 
Channel Islands as pleasant as any boat trip abroad, but 
we were fortunate in weather, there being less motion than 
one frequently finds between Boston and Provincetown and 
Portland in mid-summer. I wonder that more of the leisure- 
ly tourists do not reach Paris by this route, which is but a 
trifle more expensive in the matter of fares and touches many 
points superior in interest to those on the routes more 
patronized. First there is the Isle of Wight, reached from 
Southampton in an hour, an epitome of rural England, with 
charming drives and attractive shores. Then there are the 
islands of Guernsey and Jersey, whidh the hasty traveler can 
“do” in a day eadh, with another day for the s'till more en- 
joyable island of Sark if he has time for it. Fr'om Jersey he 
may reach the mainland at Granville, a typical bathing re- 
sort, and thence go to Avranches, perched on a gigantic 
hill; or he may reach the Continent at St. Malo, a city 
crowded on a fortified rock, hemmed in by lofty ramparts. 


72 


GOING ABROAD? 


quaint and mediaeval. A few miles away is Cancale, where 
one thinks the fishermen and the fisherwomen have just 
stepped out of their frames in a gallery of modern art. Mid- 
way Cancale and Avranches is Mount St. Michel, to my mind 
the most picturesque spot in Europe. Direct, it is but a little 
farther from Paris than is Calais, and a slight detour will let 
one reach the capital by way of Vitre, which I would rank 
next to Nuremburg in the list of curious Continental towns 
of my acquaintance. Bending the route still farther south 
may easily bring in the valley of the Loire, the garden of 
France, with its famous chateaux. 

But my enthusiasm for Brittany and Touraine makes me 
wander from the topic. To return to the more prosaic de- 
tails of boat travel, let me suggest that when buying tickets 
from London to any place on the Continent, you can com- 
bine second-class rail tickets with first-class boat tickets, and 
it is wise so to do. In crossing to Holland or Belgium by 
night, the fare entitles you to a berth without extra charge, 
but staterooms are not sold as with us. If you ask for one 
in time, it will be reserved for you without charge, and I 
remember the London agent surprised me by telegraphing 
for it at the expense of the company, not mine. 

On river and lake boats, before you get your ticket, 
wait to see w*hat parts of the boat are allotted to first and 
second-class passengers, respectively. For an all-day ride, 
such as that on the Rhine, the freedom of the w^hole boat 
given by a first-class ticket is in any event desirable. On 
the Lake of Thun the second-class accommodations are for 
sight-seeing and pleasure much superior to those allotted 
the first-class passengers, who usually crowd forward into 
the second-class seats, in spite of their tickets; but on the 
Lake of Brienz, only a mile or so away, the second-class 
accommodations are miserable. On Lake Geneva it costs 
$1.50 to go from end to end of the lake first-class; 60 cents 
second-class; and in pleasant weather the second-class seats 
are better, being ahead of the smoke-stack and giving the 
finer views. Imagine an American steamboat company 
charging two and a half times as much to sit behind the 
smoke-stack as in front of it! Yet there are Americans, and 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD, 


73 

plenty of them, who when abroad will pay the extra money 
for the worse places, simply because of the label. 

Where there are both rail and boat routes, as on the 
Rhine and Lake Geneva, if time is limited it is usually un- 
wise to buy tickets in advance, as a wet day may make the 
cars more desirable, or a hot day may make the boat the 
more comfortable. Or you may want to accompany friends 
who have arranged to go by the route other than that by 
which yoitr ticket would take you. Often tickets are issued 
that are good by either cars or boat, but boat fares are 
cheaper, and it is just as well to wait till you get there. 

The meals served on Europbcan boats are usually toler- 
able and not excessive in cost. On the long North Cape 
trip some delicacies may well be carried along to give variety 
to the bill of fare. 

A boat excursion on the Thames is coming to be a 
popular feature of an American outing in England. After 
a taste of it, I cannot praise it too warmly. To have taken 
the whole trip from Oxford down to Hampton would have 
been preferable, but two days sufficed to give us the best part 
of it. Two of us hired a boat at Windsor for two days for 
$2.50, after some haggling; the prices are flexible. We 
rowed up past Maidenhead to Co-okham and back. Had we 
come out from London by train. Maidenhead would have 
been the best place to get the boat. We went throug’h several 
locks, crowded with a variety of pleasure craft, and we saw 
house boats innum'erable, and some of the most beautiful 
estates in England. Nowhere can the outsider get a better 
idea or a nearer view of that interesting genus, the English 
aristocrat. After taking it, he will conclude that there are 
prettier girls, tastier gowns and jollier people than he had 
supposed dwelt in the land of the Briton. 

Boats to make the trip to London can be hired at Ox- 
ford for from $7..30 for a canoe or whiff (plenty large enough 
for two people) up to $30 for a large four-oared shallop. 
This covers the use of the boat for a week and the taking it 
back from London. Steam or electric launches can be hired 
almost anywhere along the river for from $10 a day up. A 
small passenger steamer makes the trip from Oxford to 


74 


GOING ABROAD? 


Kingston, 92 miles, in two days, staying for the night at 
Henley; also there are regular boats from Richmond to 
Chertsey and back, and frequent excursion steamers. 

Punting is the favorite thing with the people who tarry 
. along the river. The punt is a flat-bottomed boat propelled 
by poles, for the river is shallow enough for this. Anyone 
familiar with canoeing on the streams of American forests 
could at once take to punting, but most tourists are likely 
to find oars good enough. They will certainly suffice to 
put a blister or two on hands out of practice. Villages 
abound along the river, with excellent hotels on the bank, 
and others that are comfortable enough and less expensive 
somewhat back from the shore. The tourist may send his 
trunks on from Oxford to London, and with his hand lug- 
gage and traveling garb find himself sufficiently equipped 
for this river trip, though of course he will be more com- 
fortable in boating flannels. Women will feel less conspicu- 
ous if they can wear something more dainty than the travel- 
ing gown, for they will find their English sisters stylishly 
dressed when on ‘the river. The tourist need row no farther 
down the river than he chooses, sending the boat back from 
any village; if he tires of rowing, boys in plenty can be 
hired to pull a tow-line. 

The canoeing enthusiast can find on the Continent 
longer and more adventurous trips than on the Thames. 
Let him take steamer to Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg, or 
Bremen, send his canoe by fast freight to the railway station 
nearest the head waters of the stream he selects, and then 
launch his craft toward the Black Sea, the Baltic, the Adri- 
atic, or the Mediterranean, as his taste may lie. He need 
take with him outside his personal equipment nothing save 
what appertains to his canoe, for he can get on the spot 
cooking utensils and all food supplies. I have heard a canoe 
trip down the Rhine particularly commended. 

BY VEHICLE. 

Steam has driven the coach and the diligence off nearly 
all the main routes of travel, but in Norway, Scotland and 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD. 


75 


Switzerland several of the most delightful and almost indis- 
pensable trips are still to be made behind horses. The roads 
of Norway are justly famous. They are built by the national 
government and are the chief means of communication, as the 
country is too mountainous for many railroads. The posting 
rates are fixed by the government and one need have no fear 
of overcharging on the part of the drivers. The inns are 
fairly comfortable an>d the charges are low, iso that while the 
tourist agency tickets may be a convenience, they are by no 
means a necessity. The tourist agency people are allowed to 
charge no more than the government prices for carriages, 
and when they get their profits by taking a percentage from 
the payments to the drivers on the presentation of the car- 
riage tickets, the drivers are not happy. Therefore, the man 
who pays as he goes may get the more cheerful treatment. 
But as usual the tickets are more satisfactory to the man who 
prefers to put his reliance on a powerful tourist organization 
rather than to invite individual responsibilities. 

In the Scotch Highlands there is keen competition for 
places on the box seats of the coaches, so that on reaching a 
place where the journey is to be continued by coach, one of 
the party should hurry to secure the coveted places. Re- 
member that the first coach has the least dust. The driver 
expects a gratuity of from 12 to 36 cents, according to the 
length of the drive. 

The Swiss coaching system is under government con- 
trol and well managed. Each diligence contains a coupe, or 
first-class compartment just behind the driver, with seats for 
three persons; the interieur, or second-class compartment, 
with from four to six seats, in the body of the vehicle; and 
the banquette, an elevated seat at the rear, with room for 
two. Places in the coupe and the banquette cost a third 
more than in the interieur, and are well worth it. On ordi- 
nary routes interieur places cost about 5 cents a mile; on the 
Alpine passes, about 8 cents; coupe or banquette places, a 
little more than six cents a mile on ordinary routes, between 
9 and 10 cents a mite in the passes. None of the routes are 
very long, though, as the speed is slow, it takes from half a 
day to a day to get from hotel to hotel. 


?6 


GOING ABROAD? 


Places can be secured in advance by writing or tele- 
graphing to the Bureau des Postes at the place where the 
diligence starts, and on all popular routes, if a coupe or ban- 
quette place is wanted, the earlier this is done, the better. At 
all important stations, the diligence people are required to 
furnish transportation, so that if the diligence is full, supple- 
mentary vehicles are provided. Sometimes the passenger 
who has not written ahead, really gets a better place in the 
supplementary carriage, but that is a matter of luck. Where 
tourist company vehicles are used, as on the Geneva route to 
Chamonix, the coaches are simply large wagons, and it is of 
no use to ask for places in advance; the first man to reach 
the wagon gets the best seat. 

A carriage can be hired at the Bureau des Postes, the 
charge in Switzerland being about i6 cents a mile for each 
horse with a carriage holding from two to five persons, be- 
sides a small booking fee. Private posting is prohibited, but 
private carriages can be had for the Italian passes, and they 
are far more comfortable. Nor are they always costly. After 
taking a party over they must get back, and their owners 
would rather carry somebody at a low price than return 
empty. Often you can get a return carriage at the same price 
diligence places would cost, — sometimes at less cost, if you 
bargain shrewdly. (Don’t forget that everybody dickers 
everywhere in Europe.) Here is another place where tickets 
bought in advance sometimes cause regret. Coach seats 
should not be bought either in America or England, as only 
interieur tickets can be secured in either country, and nobody 
will ride in the interieurs if he can afford to go in coupe or 
banquette, —not so much because they are less comfortable 
(though they are apt to be crowded), as because you miss 
many of the views. 

If money is of slight account, no more delightful trip 
can be made than one of many days’ duration, by private car- 
riage, through the Swiss valleys and passes. In England the 
arranging of coaching tours has become a matter of business, 
and k may be worth while to examine the descriptive circu- 
lars about them. The Isle of Wight is admirably seen by 
coach. 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD. 


77 


In tihe cities the cab and omnibus play a much more im- 
portant part than on this side of the water. Cab hire is 
ridiculously cheap on the Continent, and all well-to-do people, 
natives as well as foreigners, make habitual use of the cab. 
The prescribed rates are to be found on a card in every 
vehicle, and, therefore, no advance bargain is necessary so 
long as you keep inside the city limits; but plan an excursion 
into the country, and a bargain in advance should always 
be made. The charge is almost invariably according to the 
nature of the vehicle or the distance traveled, — not in pro- 
portion to the number of occupants. Two people, and often 
three, can ride as cheap as one person, but since four or more 
people require a larger cab or two horses, there is a larger fare. 
It is the invariable custom to fee the driver, — five cents being 
the average tip on short drives. In Naples, where the regu- 
lations let the drivers charge only 14 cents to go anywhere in 
the city limits, a lira (20 cents) would usually be given to the 
driver, but if you gave him only 16 to 18 cents, he would not 
seriously demur. Throughout most of Europe you may 
reckon on giving 20 to 30 cents for a cab fare, with four or 
five cents as pourboire. 

Extra cautious people make a memorandum of the number 
of a cab as they enter it, and pursue the same practice in the 
matter of railway guards, and wherever opportunity presents 
for lotting down a number that may aid to the recovery of 
any lost article or the settlement of any dispute. The bother 
of it will keep most people from getting into the habit, and 
yet it is not wholly useless. I was told of one amusing case 
where it saved serious annoyance. The owner of a set of false 
teeth had occasion to remove them from his mouth and lay 
them on the cushion of a railway compartment, where they 
remained when he left the car. Fortunately, the head of the 
party had taken down a number and was able to telegraph for 
the teeth, recovering them in a few 'hours. It seems absurd 
that anybody should leave false teeth strewn about in a place 
of that sort, but people will do such things. 

All hotels of consequence, except in the largest cities, 
have omnibuses at the railway stations, and omnibuses go 
from the hotels to connect with the leading trains. Two 


1 


78 


GOING ABROAD? 


people can alv/ays go between hotel and station In a cab by 
themselves as cheap as they can go in the bus, often cheaper, 
— with more comfort and speed, as well as, a valuable saving 
of time, for the bus usually starts from the hotel half an hour 
earlier than the tourist taking a cab would have to leave. So 
none but the timid, helpless, or solitary traveler will ever take 
the hotel bus. 

Hand luggage, — anything you can get inside the cab or 
bus, — goes free. Trunks are charged for, a small amount for 
each. If you let the polite and accommodating driver take 
your bag or bundle on his seat, you will have his urbanity 
explained at the end of the drive by an extra charge for it. 
As usual, always keep hold of the handle of your luggage, if 
you don’t care to pay somebody for touching it. But if 
you object 'to lugging things, or haven’t the strength, or 
don’t mind having little outlays count up, you may always 
save your arms or your dignity by having somebody else do 
the carrying. 

Cab drivers are obliged to take trunks, — to a reasonable 
number, of course,- -but are not expected either to load or 
unload them. I remember an embarrassing situation in Paris 
when on our ai riving at a pension nobody chanced to be 
there equal to handling a trunk. The ordinance forbade the 
driver to leave his cab, and he was too surly to break the rule 
anyway. There was nothing to be done except hail the first 
passing workman, and for carrying the trunk up one flight 
he demanded as much as it had cost to get it from the station, 
and several times over. Again the trunk was anathematized. 

For ordinary excursions, where there is no printed tariff 
prescribed by the authorities, Baedeker usually tells correctly 
the amount you should pay. Once in a while, though, you 
must make a bargain without help or advice from anybody. 
In such a case, don’t ask or take the opinion of a hotel em- 
ployee. He has his countryman’s interests at heart more than 
yours, and will help him to fleece you. Make up your mind 
what would be a fair price for the service, offer, and stick 
to it. 

In case of a dispute with a cab driver or in any public 
conveyance, go at once to the nearest police station and 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD. 


79 


lodge a complaint. If you neglect this, the other party to the 
dispute may get there first and make charges that will cause 
you serious annoyance before your side of the case is heard. 
One instance is told of a traveler who had her jewels attached 
because she failed to proceed at once to explain to the author- 
ities some dispute in which she was involved. If a cabman 
gets disagreeable, tell him to drive you to the police station; 
if he knows he is in the wrong, that will settle it; he will not 
take 3^ou there. 

Europe has nothing corresponding to our livery stables, 
where you can hire a horse and carriage alone, without a 
driver. The tourist is always driven; he never drives. It is 
not easy to hire a saddle horse. 

Automobiles have already come into use in Paris for 
cab purposes, at rates not exorbitant. The Londpn Company 
formed to put them to the same use had trouble in finding 
trustworthy men acquainted with the city, but I presume they 
will be in service in looo. France was the first country to see 
them commonly employed for touring purposes. It has an 
Automobile Touring Club that is large and prosperous, and 
one finds the vehicles whizzing and scorching over the high- 
ways of all the country. Petroleum is the almost universal 
fuel. In Paris one can hire an automobile for an hour, a 
day, or a tour, but the cost confines the sport to the wealthy. 
The ordinary tourist is not likely to indulge in it as long as to 
buy one makes a thousand dollar bill vanish. 

ON FOOT. 

The conditions of pedestrian travel have not changed 
materially since Bayard Taylor wrote ‘‘Views A-Foot,” and 
I can quote from no better authority. To see Europe thus, 
he says, requires little preparation, if the traveler is willing to 
forego some of the refinements of living to which he may 
have been accustomed, for the sake of the new and interest- 
ing fields of observation that will be opened to him. He 
must be conitent to sleep on hard beds, and partake of coarse 
fare; to undergo rudeness at times from the officers of the 
police and the porters of palaces and galleries; or to travel 
for hours in rain and storm without finding shelter. The 


8o 


GOING ABROAD? 


knapsack will at first be heavy on the shoulders, the feet will 
be sore and the limbs weary with the day’s walk, and some- 
times the spirit will begin to flag under the general fatigue of 
body. This, however, soon passes over. In a week’s time, if 
the pedestrian does not attempt too much on setting out, his 
limbs are stronger and his gait more firm and vigorous; he 
lies down at night with a feeling of refreshing rest, sleeps wilh 
a soundness undisturbed by a single dream, that seems almost 
like death, if he has been accustomed to restless nights; and 
rises invigorated in heart and frame for the next day’s jour- 
ney. The coarse black bread of the peasant inns, with cheese 
no less coarse, and a huge jug of milk or the nourishing beer 
of Germany, have a relish to his keen appetite which excites 
his own astonishment. And if he is willing to regard all in- 
civility and attempts at imposition as valuable lessons in the 
study of human nature, and to keep his temper and cheerful- 
ness in any situation which may try him, he is prepared to 
walk through the whole of Europe, with more real pleasure 
to himself, and far more profit, than if he journeyed in style 
and enjoyed the constant services of couriers and valets de 
place. 

Should his means become unusually scant, he will find it 
possible to travel on an amazingly small pittance, and with 
more actual bodily comfort than would seem possible to one 
who has not tried it. Mr. Taylor says he was more than 
once obliged to walk a number of days in succession on less 
than a franc a day, and found that the only drawback to his 
enjoyment was the fear he might be without relief when this 
allowance should be exhausted. He made $500 last for two 
years, including the cost of coming and going. Such a tour 
can certainly be made for an average of a dollar a day, with- 
out any heroic self-sacrifice. But Mr. Taylor declared it his 
belief, just as I shall maintain in the matter of housekeeping 
abroad, that with few exceptions, throughout Europe, where 
a traveler enjoys the same comfort and abundance as in 
America, he must pay the same prices. The principal differ- 
ence is that he only pays for what he gets, so that, if he be 
content with the necessities of life, the expense is in propor- 
tion. 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD. 


8i 


It is best to take no more clothing than is absolutely re- 
quired, as the traveler will not desire to carry more than 
fifteen pounds on his back, knapsack included. A single suit 
of good dark cloth, with a supply of linen, will be amply 
sufficient. The strong linen blouse, confined by a leather 
belt, will pro<tect it from the. dust, and when this is thrown 
aside on entering a city, the traveler makes a very respec- 
table appearance. The slouched hat of finely woven felt is a 
delightful covering to the head, serving at the same time as 
umbrella or night-cap, traveling dress or visiting costume. 
No one should neglect a good cane, which, besides its feeling 
of companionship, is equal to from three to five miles a day. 
In the Alps the tall staves, pointed with iron (Alpenstocks), 
can be bought for a franc apiece, and are of great assistance 
in crossing ice-fields, or sustaining the weight of the body in 
descending steep and difficult places. An umbrella is incon- 
venient, unless it is short and may be strapped on the knap- 
sack, but even then, an ample cape of oiled silk or rubber 
cloth is far preferable. A small bottle of the best Cognac is 
useful for bathing the feet morning and evening during the 
first week or two, or as long as they continue tender with the 
exercise. It is also very strengthening and refreshing to use 
as an external stimulant when the body is unusually weary 
with a long day’s walking. 

Lee Meriwether, in his book, “A Tramp Trip — How to 
See Europe on Fifty Cents a Day,” argues for the rubber 
coat. It is serviceable, he says, ‘‘not only againsit rain, but 
also cold. The ground may be damp, but spread out your 
rubber coat, lay your head on your knapsack, and you are in- 
dependent of chill and dampness. I have often slept thus on 
the roadside, even during a rain. The rubber coat should 
be bought in America. I had to pay in Naples four dollars 
and a half for an indifferent article that in New York would 
noit have cost three dollars.” 

Mr. Meriwether thinks that absolutely indispensable ar- 
ticles for the pedestrian, besides the rubber coat, are two 
suits of underclothing, an extra flannel shirt, a pocket drink- 
ing-cup, a compass and a map of the country to be visited. 
New articles can always be boug'ht when needed. 


82 


GOING ABROAD? 


“Expense,” says Mr. Meriwether, “depends on the will- 
ingness of the pedestrian to economize. A four and a half 
months’ trip through Italy need not co&t above a hundred 
dollars, including steamship passage from and to New York. 
The price of a round trip ticket, steerage. New York to 
Naples and back, is fifty dollars; time consumed in making 
the round trip Is six weeks. On the remaining fifty dollars 
the pedestrian can, as I have shown, live very comfortably for 
a hundred days.” He shows that without any walking, save 
in the cities, a year’s trip, embracing every land from 
Gibraltar to the Bosporus, can be made for $320. 

The college man whom I have quoted in the matter of 
crossing on a cattle steamer, saw much of England a-foot. 

He tells ime that it was easy by inquiry to learn of long 
stretches of dull country to avoid. Rooms of the Y. M. C. A. 
are in about every good-sized town, and members of that 
organization would often go to great pains to serve him in 
matters of information. Non-conformist pastors, too, were 
very kind in this regard, and shop-keepers were helpful. But 
he advises the pedestrian to avoid all sorts of officials, aver- 
ring particularly that English policemen are deaf, dumb and 
blind. I think he could not have meant to include those of 
London, who are proverbially courteous and efficient. 

As to the living, he says that anybody who survives the 
food of a cattle steamer will not complain, and that the 
meanest inn chamber will not make him regret the fore- 
castle and its occupants. At inns where the hucksters and 
traveling laborers resort he was able to secure a bed for 
f’*om 8 to 24 cents, the usual thing being 12 cents. In these 
one can find pots, pans and dishes, with which to prepare 
food. Many a time he and his companions left a po*t contain- 
ing pieces of mutton or beef, pot herbs, potatoes and turnips 
simmering on the back of some big range while they tramped 
the surrounding country. Nobody ever interfered with it. In 
fact, it might boil over and not a Briton would touch it. In 
such inns one may buy a cent’s worth of tea, and for two 
cents two substantial slices of bread. The tea will often be 
surprisingly good. You brew it in one of the pots hanging 
behind the range. One gets the use of knives, forks and 


83 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD. 

spoons by making a deposit, usually of four cents. In most 
butcher shops one can get for from 6 to 12 cents a pound of 
meat that has been cut from roasts, “trimmers,” while steaks 
and chops will soar above you at from 20 to 40 cents a pound. 
“By the way,” he says, “get the shopkeepers lingo or he will 
annex your finances very rapidly.” Salt pickled herring 
called bloaters may be toasted before the open stove front 
till they simmer; they are most toothsome. “One will avoid 
the sweet cakes, meat pasties, etc., that are displayed. They 
are all very bad. Should one not know how to do the 
simplest cooking or feel too lazy to attempt it, cold meats 
are usually on sale; a six, eight, or twelve-cent plate of ham 
or roast, scaled as to quantity, can usually be had. 

In London the traveler who would live at least p'ossible 
cost may resort, for instance, to the Victoria, in Whitechapel 
Road, East End, an establishment something like the Mills 
hotels in New York. There the price of beds is from 8 to 12 
cents a night. Though most of the guests are dirty, the place 
itself is surprisingly clean. In the basement are set tubs, and 
large ranges with pans, pots, etc., for the use of the guests. 
Food may be bought in the place, and fish and meat stalls 
are plentiful in the neighborhood. Near this house, which is 
the best of its kind, are several others at like prices. Both in 
London and in the country towns these places are preferable 
to boarding houses for the man who must make every cent 
do its most. 

“Make friends to the extent of your ability,” says my 
friend. John Bull won’t intrude. Joke him and humor him 
and he will do anything he can to ’elp ’is Hamerican cousing 
along.” 

Alvan F. Sanborn, in writing of “Cheap Tramping in 
Switzerland,” says that the Swiss landlord knows just two 
kinds of people in this big, round world, — natives and rich 
tourists, the latter being created expressly for the benefit of 
the former. “Under these circumstances the only hope of 
cheap comfort lies in being classed as a native, and to that 
end the campaign must be directed. In all villages of any 
size there are one or more public resorts, social centres for 
the burghers and feeding-places for the neighboring peasants, 


84 


GOING ABROAD? 


called cafe-restaurants, institutions strictly local and aborigi- 
nal, quite or almost tourist-inviolate. Their meals cost less 
than half the hotel price, and, if somewhat less elaborate, are 
equally abundant and toothsome, and rather better adapted to 
the vigorous exertions of mountain pedestrianism. Whether a 
bargain is made or not, a luncheon will ordinarily be supplied 
for a franc, and a dinner for one franc fifty — wine included in 
both cases and no gratuities expected. Still, it is safer to 
agree upon the price and elements of the meal with the pro- 
prietor beforehand.’* 

That walking tours may be undertaken by women abroad 
with ease and propriety is shown by the reports of many in 
late years, particularly in Scotland, the English Lake District, 
Wales, Germany, and Switzedand. ‘‘A Summer in England,” 
the manual issued by the Woman’s Rest Tour Association, 
says that the outfit for a walking tour should include a light 
woolen Norfolk jacket or pleated waist, with leather belt; a 
skirt, rather shorter than the ordinary sensible street dress 
(to be made still shorter, on occasion, by the use of large 
safety-pins); a soft, dark felt hat or Tam o’ Shanter, and easy 
walking boots, or (what English women generally choose) 
low shoes and gaiters. In Switzerland the boots must be fur- 
nished with nails, for climbing. A divided skirt (gray mohair 
or some light-weight stuff) should be the only petticoat worn, 
and the combination undersuit is preferably of silk or light- 
weight wool. Stockings should be of fine woolen (to pre- 
vent blisters), and the gloves chamois or Biarritz. 

The '‘pack” consists of a light waterproof, rolled very 
small, and a knapsack; one twelve inches wide, eleven high, 
and three across, has been proved a convenient size. This 
will contain the necessary toilet articles, a second suit of un- 
derwear, an extra pair of stockings and gloves, and a drink- 
ing-cup. Articles for general use, such as vaseline, thread and 
needles, safety-pins, postal-cards, a whisk-broom, a map of the 
neighborhood, guide-book, soap, and a package of sweet 
chocolate, may be distributed among the members of the 
party. The knapsack, when filled, should not and need not 
weigh four pounds. In place of the knapsack, some pedes- 
trians recommend a pouch suspended by a strap from the 


HOW TO TRAVEL ABROAD, 


8S 

shoulder; the weight can then be shifted from time to time. 
To reduce weight, it is well to cut out the section of Baedeker 
to be used during the trip. A harness maker will provide the 
belt with strong hooks (such as are often used by members of 
the Appalachian Club), to which a sketch-book, flower-press, 
drinking-cup, waterproof and other ‘‘portable property” may 
be attached. Arrange your outfit before you leave America. 
It has been found difficult to obtain just the right 'Sort of 
knapsack abroad. An umbrella is a luxury rather than a 
necessity. 

Pedestrians, or for that matter bicyclists or any other 
tourists who undertake severe physical exertion, may find in 
it an excuse for favoring what in homely phrase is known as 
“a sweet tooth,” for if the scientific men are right, a longing 
for sweets may be very far from a sign of effeminacy. In- 
vestigation at the instance of the Prussian war office has 
shown that after a large amount of muscular effort a com- 
paratively small quantity of sugar produces an invigorating 
effect worth regarding. The theory is that the muscular 
effort makes the blood poor in sugar. This may explain why 
on Alpine excursions a desire developes for candy and sweet- 
ened food, and why guides eagerly appropriate any left-over 


sugar. 



CHAPTER V. 


BICYCLE TOURING. 

Assuming good health and ordinary strength, the bicycle 
unquestionably gives the best means for enjoying a European 
trip that is undertaken chiefly for sight-seeing. If there were 
truth in a common notion that the only important object in 
going to Europe should be to see beautiful buildings, art 
galleries, and other travelers, the tourist would have slight 
use for the bicycle, as all these things are to be seen mainly 
in the cities; but the fact is that the rural districts are the more 
delightful, the people of the towns and villages are the more 
interesting, and of course real scenery is rustic, so that tour- 
ing by bicycle gives more pleasure and added profit, while 
fostering health. Even in the cities the wheel has its ad- 
vantages, for abroad as well as at home it is a time-saver, 
and you can see far more of the externals of a place in one 
morning with a bicycle than by tramping about for two or 
three days, but it is in Journeying across country that the 
great gain comes, for only in such travel, whether on a wheel, 
in a carriage or a-foot, do you learn how the people live and 
what they are. 

Compared with the pedestrian tour, that by wheel has the 
advantage «of saving a great deal of time, the disadvantage of 
hurrying past some scenery that should be taken slowly. But 
he who wisely walks up all the slopes, rests at charming 
view-points, and makes of his journey a jaunt rather than a 
task, will find that he has missed little by which the pedestrian 
would have profited. The wheelman can travel as cheap as 
the pedestrian, and much cheaper than the rail tourist, be- 
cause with convenience he can stop at smaller towns, where 
hotel bills are always smaller than in the cities, though the 
accommodations often have more real comfort. He lus no 


BICYCLE TOURING. 


B? 


railroad tickets to buy, no cabs to hire, and he has the great 
advantage of arriving at hotels without the flourish that in- 
vites high charges, under circumstances that permit his easy 
departure for another hostelry if the rates and appearance of 
the first he tries do not suit him. Leaving out clothing, 
mcment'ces and presents, he can tour comfortably in Great 
Britain for $3 a day and on the Continent for $2.50 a day; 
without great hardship he can reduce these figures a quarter; 
by increasing them a quarter, he can have more luxury than 
suits the ordinary wheelman, for, as a rule, the lover of out- 
door sport prefers plain, substantial food, and for his room 
demands little more than a comfortable bed. 

Women can make a bicycle tour as economically as men, 
and most of them spend less, often going by preference to 
lodgings rather than to hotels, being less lavish with fees, and 
paying less for what they eat, still less for what they drink. 
It is not uncommon for women to make bicycle tours abroad 
at an expenditure averaging not more than $1.50 a day for the 
living expenses. They can tour with perfect safety and free- 
dom anywhere in Great Britain, even singly, for many Eng- 
lish women ride the wheel unaccompanied, and attract no 
comment. But I should hesitate to counsel any young 
woman to ride alone on the Continent, for I fear she would 
occasionally be exposed to insult, and continually to unpleas- 
ant curio-sity. Continental women rarely ride without escort. 
Two or more American wheelwomen might ride through 
Central Europe without a single unpleasant experience, but 
accidents would doubtless be more serious to them than to 
men, and ignorance of the language more embarrassing. 

The wheelman who has the good fortune of the company 
of one of the other sex is to be congratulated, not only for 
the additional pleasure of the best of companionship, but also 
because he will perforce resist the temptation to ride too fast 
and too far. He will in any event do well not to ride alone, 
for if unaccompanied he is likely to ride too soon after eating, 
to pedal faster than he ought, and to have tediously lonesome 
hours. From two to six people can advantageously tour to- 
gether; more than that number will And the usual drawbacks 
of an excursion party, and may be sometimes bothered by the 


88 


GOING ABROAD? 


scarcity 'of good rooms in village inns. The pace, too, seldom 
suits the capacities or the preference of all. “Personally con- 
ducted” bicycle tours are offered by the tourist agencies and 
by others; they differ little in advantage and disadvantage 
from other traveling of this sort. 

Whether it pays to take a bicycle if most of the traveling 
is to be done by rail, is a question most wheelmen would 
answer in the negative, but I have met bicycle enthusiasts 
who say they would take a wheel on any but the most hasty 
tour. With well-to-do English people the bicycle has come 
to be almost as essential a part of the traveling outfit as the 
tin bath-tub that amuses the Yankee so much. In London I 
chanced for a while to be staying near one of the great rail- 
way statio^ns, and was struck with the large number of wheels 
I saw on the tops of the hansoms and cabs going to and 
from the trains. By the way, don’t speak of “wheels” abroad. 
You won’t be understood; in England it is “your bike”; in 
France, “votre bicyclette.” 

The transportation of wheels by train or cab is no more 
bothersome abroad than that of a trunk; in Great Britain it 
is more costly, on parts of the Continent trifling. But when 
bicycles become baggage, they are as bothersome as any 
other baggage, and that is no mild statement. They may be 
a convenience in getting to and from hotels, but the rail 
tourist seldom is aitired in a fashion that makes bicycle riding 
pleasant, which suggests what is really the worst feature of 
taking a wheel along as an accessory, — the fact that your at- 
tire, your luggage and your plans do not fit in with its 
habitual use. On the other hand, the best feature of having 
it is the chance it gives for seeing suburbs, for excursions 
into the country and for recreation. 

TOURING CLUBS. 

If you are not already ^ member of the League of 
American Wheelmen, join it as soon as you have made up 
your mind to tour abroad. Apart from the pleasure it should 
give every American wheelman and wheelwoman to co-oper- 
ate in the cause of good roads and just legislation, is the 


BICYCLE TOURING. 


S9 

benefit to be derived from its alliance with the Cyclists’ Tour- 
ing Club of Great Britain, commonly known as the C. T. C., 
just as the American club is called the L. A. W., and the 
Touring-Club de France the T. C. F. Membership in all 
these clubs is open to men and women alike, and the formali- 
ties are very simple. The blank application for membership 
in the L. A. W. will be furnished by Abbot Bassett, Secre- 
tary, 530 Atlantic Ave., Boston. Return it to him with $2.00, 
being $1.00 for the initiation fee, $0.75 for annual dues, and 
$0.25 for the ofhcial organ of the League. Your membership 
card (as is also the case with that of the C. T. C. or the 
T. C. F.) will be sent where you may direct, so that if you 
apply for membership in any one of these organizations too 
late for the card to reach you before you sail, it can be ad- 
dressed to you in care of your banker at London or Paris; a 
Liverpool or Southampton or any other hotel; or the Poste 
Restante (General Delivery) anywhere. 

L. A. W. members can enjoy all the useful rights and 
privileges of C. T. C. members, with no extra charge save 
that they must pay two shillings for the invaluable C. T. C. 
Hand-book, which the C. T. C. supplies to its own members 
gratis. The L. A. W. Secretary will on application send a 
C. T. C. badge, which will secure hotel discounts and the 
other C. T. C. benefits on the road. Fie is also to keep on 
sale the hand-books, road-books, itineraries and maps at the 
British prices. 

Though it is not now essential also to join the C. T. C., T 
personally would do so, not only for the satisfaction of being 
a member of so important and useful an organization, but 
also for the sake of getting the monthly magazine sent to its 
members. The club has a membership of about 60,000, and 
is a solid, influential and effective organization. ITie dues 
for the first y-ear are $1.25; for subsequent years $1.00. For a 
membership application send a stamped envelope to its Chief 
Consul for the LTnited States, Frank W. Weston, Savin Hill, 
Mass., whose disinterested labors in its behalf deserve the 
gratitude of all American w’heelmen that profit by them. The 
Headquarters of the Club are at 47 Victoria St., London, be- 
tween the Houses of Parliament and the American embassy. 


90 


GOING ABROAD? 


r 


Members can there examine the books and maps on sale, 
and get any information or advice they may desire. 

The Club Hand-book contains a list of the C. T. C. 
hotels, with particulars of the tariff and discount applicable 
to each; a key map; a list of the Consuls to whom each mem- 
ber may apply for guidance or for information not contained 
in the Club publications; a list of the officers; the Club Rules 
and Regulations; information as to the C. T. C. riding cos- 
tume or uniform and a list of the Club tailors from whom it 
can be obtained; hints as to touring, suggestions as to repair 
of cycles; table of railway rates; of sunrises and sunsets; of 
phases of the moon; and general information, including pages 
for a complete diary and riding record. The C. T. C. Hand- 
books are published annually, in time for the touring season. 

Of most importance is the list of hotels. Arrangements 
have been made with from one to three in about every village 
of the United Kingdom, w>hereby members have specified 
prices for all usual services, with discounts ranging up to 25 
per cent., most of them discounting two-pence in the shilling, 
or about 17 per cent. Computation from the values of the 
first hundred in the book (and they are typical) shows the 
net charges to average, after deducting discount, as follows: 
Breakfast of tea, coffee, or cocoa, with bread and butter, toast 
and preserve, 23 cts. ; same with eggs, 29 cts. ; same with ham 
and eggs, chops, steak, cold meat or fish, 36 cts. Luncheon 
or supper of cold meat, potatoes, salad or pickles, cheese, 
bread and butter, 36 cts.; of chop, steak or cut from hot joint 
(if any), potatoes, cheese, bread and butter, 40 cts. Dinner 
of soup or fish, hot joints, potatoes and vegetables, sweets, 
cheese, bread and butter, 54 cts. Single-bedded room occu- 
pied by one member, 38 cts.; occupied by two members, 59 
cts.; double-bedded room, two members, two beds, 69 cts. 
Attendance per night (none for meals) each member, 8 cts. 
Add 10 per cent, for fees, and you may figure out that living 
expenses for a member of the Club will run from $1.66 to 
$1.93 a day, according to his appetite. But, though nearly all 
the hotels set a price on such a dinner as that specified above, 
as a matter of fact you will rarely get it. The hot joint was 
served the day before or will not be cooked till tomorrow, 


BICYCLE TOURING. 91 

and you wi’ll be offered cold meat till k becomes insufferable. 
But you can always get a chop or steak cooked to order. 

It is the intention of the Club officials to have on the list 
no hotels that are not respectable and clean. In almost all 
the smaller places the C. T. C. hotels are the best. The one 
criticism to be made of the list is that in the larger places the 
arrangements have been made with the “commercial” rather 
than with the “family” hotels, i. e., those frequented by com- 
mercial travelers rather than those accustomed to care for 
tourists. As the commercial traveler will support no hotel 
that is not comfortable and clean, there is no objection in this 
for wheelmen, but it is sometimes a bit awkward for wheel- 
women, especially if unaccompanied by escort, to go to a 
hotel where ladies are much in the minority. As a matter of 
fact, they will get courteous treatment, but the situation isn’t 
pleasant. Husband and wife, even, will occasionally find it 
better to desert the C. T. C. list and seek a hotel where 
women at table are the usual thing. 

The system of dinners at “commercial” hotels proved too 
much for me to comprehend. We were regularly debarred 
from the “commercial” dinner served at noon, and made to 
eat by ourselves a meal that usually was cooked to order. 
But we learned from it that there actually are places outside 
London where somebody at some times under some circum- 
stances can get a good dinner. Our previous experience had 
not led us so to think. 

The Touring-Club de France is still larger than its 
British neighbor, having about 75,000 members. It is equally 
fortunate in the character of its membership, and equally 
effective in its purpose to aid tourists. Americans can apply 
for membership to Francis S. Hesseltine, Esq., 10 Tremont 
St., Boston, who is as generous and philanthropic in his 
labors for the French Club as is Mr. Weston for the British. 
Send him $1.50, and 25 cts. more if the monthly publication, 
the Revue Mensuelle, is wanted, as it should be; also a 
stamped envelope for the application blank and any informa- 
tion that may be desired, but remember that Mr. Hesseltine, 
like Mr. Weston, is a busy man. The headquarters of the 
French Club are comfortably located at No, 10 Place de la 


92 


GOING ABROAD? 


r 


Bourse, Paris, where members have access to a cycling 
library and will find a hospitable reception. The hand-book 
is sent free to members as soon as they have been admitted, 
together with a pin and a card of identification. The hotel 
list in the hand-book is better than the English list. In every 
city outside Paris it has at least one hotel of the first class, 
where wheel women will find no embarrassmen't. As French 
landlords are more likely than British landlords to raise their 
rates to foreigners, the saving through the use of the book 
is of even more consequence. I saved the cost of member- 
ship twice over on the first French hotel bill presented to me 
alter I joined the T. C. F. 

The rates of the first hundred hotels for which the prices 
arc given in the T. C. F. book, after deducting the discount, 
average as follows: Breakfast (roll and coffee, tea or choco- 
late), 13 cts. ; luncheon (as hearty as the ordinary Am.erican 
noon meal), 40 cts.; table-d’hote dinner, 52 cts.; chamber, 31 
cts.; total, $1.36. Add 10 per cent, for fees, and it gives pre- 
cisely $1.50 a day as the cost of living expenses for touring in 
France as a member of the T. C. F. Table wine, cider or 
beer, according to the custom of the region, is almost in- 
variably included without extra charge, and it is stipulated 
that there shall be no charge for lights or service. 

By comparing these figures with those given in the fol- 
lowing chapter, you will see that the T. C. F. member saves 
in hotel bills more than a third of what the rail tourist ordi- 
narily pays. I can vouch for the fact that except in the cities 
he goes to the best hotel in the place, and in the cities he can 
go to a high grade hotel if he chooses. Most of the guests in 
a T. C. F. hotel I used in Paris were Americans or English- 
men paying rail-tourist rates. Of course in a list comprising 
many hundred hotels, some are inferior, and, of course, the 
most luxurious hotels at watering places and summer resorts 
are not given to making such rates for anybody, but it is 
perfectly safe to say that with rare exceptions the best 
T. C. F. hotel in each place will satisfy any American 

bicyclist. 

Bv the way, you need not be accompanied by a wheel in 
order to get the benefits of either the T, Ci F, or the Ct T. C» 


BICYCLE TOURING. 


93 


hotel lists. A man who never mounted a wheel may, if a 
meml)er of either Club, get the schedule rates, and, there- 
fore, any European tourist may thriftily join. A m.ember of 
the French Club may get the same rates for his wife and 
children without their being members, but the C. T. C. privi- 
leges are confined to members. Husband and wife, brother 
and sister, should both join each club, not only to avoid any 
question in the payment of hotel bills, but also for the custom 
house benefits. 

Perhaps the pleasantest feature of the thing is that the 
use of Club cards saves haggling. You know in advance ex- 
actly what you are to pay. The arrangement appears to be 
perfectly satisfactory to landlords, and if anything you get 
better rather than worse treatment through being known as a 
Club member, provided you state the fact when you enter the 
hotel. That is not necessary, but it is always wise. Only 
once did I suspect that I got a worse room in consequence. 
And I had no friction over the Club stipulations, save in the 
one matter of a provision that the price of a two-bedded 
room is to be twice that of a room with one bed when on the 
first floor, and half as large again as that of the one-bedded 
room if higher up. Every^ landlord insisted on doubling the 
single-bedded rate no matter where the room might be, and 
at last I gave up trying to make them understand what they 
had agreed to with the Club. There was, to be sure, almost 
invariably an over-charge in the bill, but it was always cheer- 
fully corrected when pointed out, and its regularity soon 
changed from a matter of annoyance to one of amusement. 
It is simply the Continental landlord’s way of having his 
little joke, for which you pay dearly if you don’t detect the 
humor of it before you get away, whether you depart by 
wheel or train. 

Inasmuch as comparatively few Frenchmen tour outside 
their own country, it would be a one-sided arrangement were 
the T. C. F. to exchange privileges with other clubs, and it 
has cancelled all affiliation such as that of the L. A. W. with 
the C. T. C. It has its own arrangements wkh hotels in 
other Continental countries, and the C. T. C. likewise has 
hotel arrangements in France and elsewhere on the Conti- 


94 


GOING ABROAD? 


nent, issuing what it calls a Continental Hand-bo'ok at a 
price of 36 cts. Though the French hotels and their rates are 
often the same for the two Clubs, I should prefer to rely on 
membership in the French Club for French hotels. To be 
sure, the C. T. C. claims to have contract arrangements with 
3,800 hotels in France, against 2,473 of the T. C. F., but it 
stands to reason that a French Club would make more in- 
telligent discrimination than a foreign club. Elsewhere on 
the Continent, though the books of both Clubs may be used, 
that of the C. T. C. is likely to be of the more benefit, for 
through its direct arrangements, and those made indirectly 
through the Touring Clubs of the various countries, it far 
surpasses the French Club in the contracts in force. In 
Germany, for instance, T. C. F. membership gets reduced 
rates in but 27 hotels, while C. T. C. membership gets it in 
2,740; in Italy the T. C. F. has contracts with 38, the C. T. C. 
with 1,185; and the same state of affairs prevails in most of the 
other countries. All told, at home and abroad, the C. T. C. 
has direct contracts with more than 10.000 hotels. 

Germany, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Denmark, Holland, 
Spain and Sweden have prosperous clubs of their own, but 
membership in them is not likely to be worth the while of a 
member of the C. T. C. and T. C. F. unless for students or 
others residing temporarily abroad. 

The foreign Consuls of the L. A. W., any one of whom 
would gladly serve an American wheelman, are: 

Felix Rohl, Linden Strasse 5G, S. W. Berlin, Germany. 

Joseph Pennell, 14 Buckingham .st., Strand, W. C. London, 
England. 

Otto Mayer, in 1-2 Lindergrasse, Vienna, Austria. 

Dr. E. B. Turner, 9 Sussex Garden, London, Eng., Racing 
Representative. 

W. P. Purvis, 2 Avenue Place, Southampton, England. 

Herbert M. Ranldlor, Blundeils School, Tiverton, England. 

J. White, Derrybawn, Bushey Park Road, Rothgar, Co. Dublin, 

J. Lennox, Dumfries, Scotland. 

T. Lee Lloyd, 0 Dingle Lane, Liverpool, England. 

H. C. Wallis, Secy. Dieppois Du Golf, Dieppe, France. 

Rev. Thos. H. Orpen, Binnbrooke, Cambridge, England. 

A. Eidlitz, c. o. Schenker & Co., Munich, Germany. 

Paul Oelier, 5 Rue Gustave Sore, Paris, France. 


BICYCLE TOURING. 95 

Friedrich Schleicher, Durieu Kheiiilaud, Bounerstrasse 16, 
Germany. _ 

Ercole Abrate, All Auroro, Turin, Italy. 

THE WHEEL AND ITS PARTS. 

American bicycles are lighter, easier, cheaper, and more 
graceful than those of European manufacture. They are 
strong enough; those of English make are so needlessly 
strong that they are heavy and clumsy. There is no reason 
why any high-grade American wheel should not serve for a 
tour abroad, and every reason why it is preferable. Bicycles 
can be hired by the hour, day, week or month in any Euro- 
pean city, but hired bicycles are frequently poor bicycles; 
they are usually worn and treacherous. Though without 
great difficulty you can hire an American wheel abroad, bet- 
ter take one from here if you plan to tour. 

But don’t, don’t, don’t take one with single-tube tires. I 
received this advice, disregarded it, and paid the penalty. I 
had heard of single tubes that went through Europe without 
a puncture and I took the chances. In England no accident 
happened, but within twenty minutes after starting on French 
soil, the first hob-nail went through my extra heavy tire. 
The hob-nail is a despicable invention of the Evil One, admir- 
ably designed to encourage the use of profanity. It is a long 
tack, with a broad, flat head, most commonly used in the 
sabots worn by the peasants of many parts of the Continent. 
As they stump along the roads, the tacks fall out, and then, 
with the imperceptible business end sticking up, they await 
the doomed bicyclist. In one repair shop at Tours I saw 
more than a hundred the repairer had taken out of tires that 
spring. Six of them in a week used up all the rubber solution 
left in my repair kit, most of it having apparently evaporated 
en route. Then the trouble began. And it continued till we 
reached home. Even in a city as large as Tours, no repairer 
could stop a hole completely. One thought he had succeeded 
brilliantly when he had fastened in a huge mushroom, — 
wrong end up, with a cone projecting from the tire that went 
bumpety-bump till it fell out. There wasn’t a vulcanizer in 
France outside Paris, and the one there was in the hands of 


96 


GOING ABROAD? 


the agent of a certain American tire who would vulcanize no 
other. May he \siome day get his deserts! Hope rose when 
we reached London. The agent of the same American tire 
'gave the same refusal, but sent us to a man who sold and vul- 
canized single tube tires. His job seemed to be a success, 
but on the first day out of London it proved a failure and I 
limped to Liverpool, getting as much exercise from blowing 
up tires as from pedalling. 

.Single tube tires are all right in the right region, with 
plenty of repair material at hand, and with access to repairers 
who can repair punctures that need vulcanizing. Elsewhere 
they are a vain thing for safety. In all France I could not 
find an ounce of the quick drying solution ordinarily sold 
with repair kits. In neither England nor France, outside 
London, did I find a repairer who understood the single-tube 
tire. Many repairers will not even look at it, will not let it 
come into the shop. Don’t take it to the land of hob-nails 
and thorns and flinty road-beds. 

Yet if you insist on taking the more than even chance of 
having your trip marred, there are three or four precautions 
you may be willing to accept. One is to put on a pair of the 
tires claimed to be puncture-proof. Another is to take the 
heaviest tire on the market, known as an “export tire,” which 
has the wearing portion very thick. Another is to have the 
ordinary tires re-inforced with rubber bands; it will cost you 
from $3 to $5 to have them put on in some English or Conti- 
nental repair shop. I note that correspondents of the C. T. C. 
Gazette praise highly the Echo Puncture-Preventing Shields, 
which are hog-skin bands, said to be non-puncturable. The 
company will fit them for $3.50 a pair if you send the tires to 
Birkdale, Eng., or it will send the shields for $3.12, and it is 
said you can easily put them on by yourself. The most im- 
portant precaution of all is to take along an extra tire in your 
trunk or bag, with cement enough to put it on. Single-tube 
tires can be bought in the foreign capitals, but at twice what 
they cost in the States. 

It is the common supposition that double-tube tires are 
not put on wooden rims, but I am told this is not the case. 
On the contrary, it is said that any 'maker will, if you insist on 


. BICYCLE TOURING. 


97 


it, fit double tubes to your wooden rims. You can get metal 
wheels on most makes of bicycles, and'some good wheels are 
designed only for double-tube tires. Englishmen insist that 
wooden rims are not suited to weather conditions abroad, 
but Americans do not grant this. 

In his entertaining and useful book, “Why Not Cycle 
Abroad Yourself?” Clarence Stetson describes a simple de- 
vice used by some French riders to lessen the chance of 
picking up tacks or even bits of glass. They attach a little 
wire across the fork where the wheel turns, about a sixteenth 
of an inch from the tire. Their argument is that the tack does 
not puncture the rubber when the wheel first touches it, but 
is picked up and does the mischief when it strikes the ground 
again. The wire knocks it off before this harm is done. 
Those who have tried it say they have never since had a 
puncture. It certainly will cost no wheelman anything to 
try it. 

Later in his book Mr. Stetson de-scribes how an Italian 
repairer fixed a bad puncture: “Over the point where the 

nail had entered he had glued on several layers of rubber, 
and over this he had wound several yards of white cloth, all 
of which was fastened down with a piece of red flannel. 
Signor Maggi explained that if the tire didn’t have a relapse 
after being ridden two or three hours, we could remove these 
outside bandages. He then charged us eight lire (two dol- 
lars) for his work and said good morning, and prepared to 
receive the congratulations of all his friends.” But Signor 
Maggi had put back the tire on the wooden rim with little or 
no glue, and after ten miles of riding the rubber about the 
valve was so badly cut as to make the tire useless. 

The ignorance of European repairers in the matter of 
gear-driven wheels kept me from taking a chainless wheel 
across. Many such wheels have gone through Europe in 
excellent shape, and their riders commend them, especially 
for use on wet, muddy roads. But the delicacy of the gears 
is such that in case any accident should happen, it would 
probably be necessary to take the train to the nearest big 
city in order to find a machinist equal to repairing the dam- 
age. Joseph Pennell, the artist, who is the L. A. W. Consul 
in London, says that he tried a chainless on a tour and found 


98 


GOING ABROAD? 


it the deadest thing he ever rode. It was an English chain- 
less, and perhaps that made some difference. 

Gear cases to protect the chain are the usual thing on 
English wheels. These, with the mud guards before and be- 
hind, arouse the derision of every American wheelman at first 
sight, but as usual where a custom prevails, there is a reason 
for it and sense in it. Wet weather is much more common 
in Great Britain than either in the States or on the Continent, 
and there is much more of riding on wet roads, not only by 
reason of the weather, but also because the watering cart is 
abroad in the land. The quarter-inch of mire on the surface 
of London streets is the stickiest stuff that ever spattered a 
bicycle. Ride over it a day and you will wish your own 
wheel had mud-guards. But as these guards, the gear case, 
the brake and the usual luggage carrier seen on English 
wheels make it not uncommon for them to tip the scales at 
40 pounds and more, most American tourists will prefer to 
get along without the encumbrances. 

Brakes are far more common abroad than in the States. 
Indeed, I note one counsellor who says: ‘Tt would be the 

height of folly to attempt a European tour without a brake; 
they are useful, particularly in cities like Paris (where one 
finds the most careless drivers in the world) to aid you in 
stopping quickly on the crowded boulevards, as well as on 
many of the hills in the neighborhood of Paris, to say noth- 
ing of being absolutely necessary when touring in Switzer- 
land.’’ The last assertion I will accept without demur, but for 
any tour not extending into a mountainous region the rider 
who needs no brake at home, will need none abroad. Many 
riders enjoy the sense of intimacy with their machines given 
by sole reliance on the pedals, and feel the safer for it. Such 
riders not only refuse the burden of a brake, but also can see 
no good in what the English call the ^'free wheel,” and Amer- 
icans the “coaster brake,” — the device enabling one to coast 
while keeping his feet on the pedals. The battle between the 
friends and foes of the free wheel has waged long a»nd vigor- 
ously in cycling publications and on the road. One Ameri- 
can assured me the pleasures of touring had been doubled 
for him by adopting the device. Another declares that after 


« 


BICYCLE TOURING. 99 

% 

a test for two or three months he concludes that the free 
wheel is all right for good roads in dry weather, and for lazy 
riding, but that ior long trips and give-and-take conditions he 
has not found it satisfactory. Take your choice. 

The medium or low-geared wheel is by all odds the best 
for touring abroad. Because you have heard the roads of 
England and France are the best in the world, do noit expect 
them to be of the billiard table variety. I think they average 
to have more grades than those of the States. Though per- 
haps steep hills are not so common, yet there are plenty of 
long slopes where it pays to have low gears; 74 is plenty high 
enough, and between 60 and 70 is still the preference with 
most English riders, though the tendency is to follow our 
example in increasing the gear and lengthening the crank. 
The wheels should be the same size, 28 in., not only because 
it wild be easier to get an extra tire abroad if you must, but 
also because you can interchange the tires if need be. It is 
the rear tire that gets the more strain and gives out first. 
Even before it gives signs of wear, it may be wise to take an 
hour on some rainy day and interchange the two. It is not 
advisable to take a tandem, partly because of its greater lia- 
bility to the danger of breakage of chain or frame, partly be- 
cause it prevents one of a pair of riders from making excur- 
sions alone when the other prefers to rest or perforce must 
rest by reason of illness or fatigue. Furthermore, two single 
wheels can easier carry a given amount of luggage than one 
tandem. 

How to carry the luggage is a more mooted question 
even than th^t of brakes, free wheels or gears. One man 
said to me beforehand: “The only rational way to carry 

luggage is on the handle bar.” The next expert I consulted 
said none but a fool would carry it on the handle bar, and 
that the proper place for it was behind the saddle. I com- 
promised by using both ways, with a luggage carrier in the 
frame as well. The result of trying all three things made it 
my personal belief that it is practicable with comfort to carry 
on the handle bar a small leather hand-bag, best attached by 
means of two snaps that can be had at any hardware or har- 
ness shop for a few cents. These I fastened to the bar by 




100 


GOING ABROAD? 


winding with stout cord and some German silver wire, so that 
the snaps would catch in the rings at either end of the handle 
of the bag, put there for the use of people who carry such 
bags by a strap over the shoulder. In this bag carry the 
map, guide-book, toilet articles, and all the small con- 
veniences you can crowd in. Then in the frame carrier put 
the change of underwear, night shirt, etc. Beneath the 
saddle swing the tool bag and the thin rubber cape that rolls 
up so compactly. 

For a woman’s wheel I bought a square hand-bag, 12 
in. long, 7 in. deep, and 6 in. wide. To this I had a harness 
maker attach three little straps with buckles, so that one 
could go through the slot in the saddle and the others around 
the frame, hanging it so that at the start when filled it cleared 
the mud-guard by a quarter of an inch. As a matter of fact, 
it sagged afterwar-d so that it rested on the mud-guard, but 
only lightly, and no damage resulted. The straps must be 
put on very strongly, as the strain is considerable. This 
carried the necessaries except the light coat, which was 
fastened to the handle-bar by the ordinary straps. 

The frame bag for a man’s wheel should ha,ve stiff sides. 
Those of leather are heavy. If you can find a stout one 
cloth-covered, it will answer for one tour at least. If the 
sides can bulge, they will prove bothersome in riding. If 
the bag hangs so low that a pedal at the top of its revolu- 
tion will come above the bottom of the bag, there is danger 
of a nasty spill in case the bag slips to either side. English 
riders fancy the wire basket carrier, in which they put bag 
or bundle, usually in front of the handle-bar, sometimes 
over the rear wheel. Occasionally you will find a tourist 
traveling with all his goods and chattels rolled in a piece of 
rubber cloth and strapped to the handle-bar. A few will go 
with a pouch hanging from the shoulder, surely the worst 
way of all. Happiest the man whose wants are so few that 
he goes without any luggage at all! 

Lamps, or at any rate a light of some kind, are indi- 
spensable if riding is to be done after dark. The law requires 
that lamps shall be lighted an hour after sundown, and usu- 
ally it is enforced, though now and then you will find a city 


BICYCLE TOURING. 


lOI 


where it is ignored, and as a rule it is safe to travel a coun- 
try road without a lamp. The tourist so seldom 
needs to ride after dark that it is a pity to add 
the burden of a lamp. In cities on the few occasions 
when you may want to wheel in the late evening, you can 
meet the requirements of the law, at any rate in France, by 
buying a Chinese lantern and a candle for a few cents, and 
letting it swing from the handle-bar. In England the mid- 
summer twilights are so long that the tourist seldom has 
need for a light of any kind. 

In Fran'ce and most other Continental countries the 
law demands a bell, gong, or horn, audible at 50 yards. 
Every cautious rider will be sure to carry a good one any- 
way. 

Name plates, essential in some regions, are worth hav- 
ing anywhere, both to protect the wheels and as a means of 
identification. The C. T. C. furnishes them at a day’s notice 
for 40 cts., with your name and address engraved, and a 
tag for writing railway or hotel addresses. Get one. 

Don’t be afraid of taking too many duplicate parts, — 
chain links, nuts, spokes, handle-grip, etc. You Vnay not 
need one, but if you do the chances are you can’t get it 
where you may be. The nuts that bothered me most by 
dropping off were those that fasten the rubber strips in the 
pedals. 

Make sure that the repair kit is complete, and particu- 
larly that the tubes of rubber solution are full and securely 
corked, so that the rubber cannot ooze out or evaporate. 
Supply yourself with several rubber plugs of various sizes. 

rUEPARATTONS FOR THE TRIP. 

If you buy a new wheel and are not familiar with its 
mechanism, make the dealer take it apart and put it to- 
gether in your presence, or else get a repairer or some 
skilled friend to do it. I recall an incident showing the 
importance of this. My pedal was attached to the crank in 
a way simple enough when you understand it, but sure to 
mystify anybody without mechanical ‘‘gumption” who had 


102 


GOING ABROAD? 


not learned its knack. Wh-en one dropped off on an Isle of 
Wight road several miles from a town, the experience would 
have been wearisome had I not puzzled the thing out at the 
time I bought the machine. I do not understand why mak- 
ers deliver machines without printed instructions as to these 
things, but they do, or at any rate I know none that do not. 

You may have occasion to take off and replace a wheel, 
to take up the slack in the chain, to readjust saddle-post or 
handle-bar, and you should know how to do these things 
right before you start. Most of the adjusting, however, 
should have been completed before you leave home. Any 
new wheel should be ridden at least a hundred miles before 
taking it abroad. The best of them need breaking in, ad- 
justing, slight alteration or repairing. The preliminary rid- 
ing will show weak points if any exist, and it is far better 
to adjust and alter and make perfect before starting than to 
wait till you get where time is precious and parts are scarce 
and men acquainted with your wheel cannot be found. 

Another thing to be broken in is the footwear. Rash 
the man or woman who starts on a long tour with new 
shoes! Men will fin 4 no need for shoes especially made for 
bicycling. You are likely to walk or stand more hours than 
you ride, and such* walking boots as you would ordinarily 
use will be found the best things for your purpose. Some 
women prefer the high laced boot; others, the low shoe. 
Their relative comfort depends on the weather, with the 
chances favoring the high boot. 

Men may easily, quickly and cheaply get their bicycle 
suits in England or France, preferably in England. The 
C. T. C. has arrangements with tailors who furnish stylish 
suits of excellent cloth at a fixed price in two or three days 
after one is measured. There is a choice of m-aterials, and 
though the suit is called a “uniform” there is nothing in the 
way of braid or buttons or anything else to differentiate it 
from an ordinary suit. Cap, coat, knickerbockers and stock- 
ings will come to about $15. Have it made with all-wool 
pockets, stiffenings, linings, etc., for then it will dry quickly 
vVhen damped by rain or perspiration. 

Wool, indeed, is to my mind the only material for 


BICYCLE TOURING. 


103 


bicycle touring. Comparatively few people wear all-wool 
underclothing in the summer, and the idea of it is far from 
attractive to people who haven’t tried it. On the other hand 
those who do try it will unanimously back up my assertion 
that the lightest all-wool underwear is not merely en- 
durable, — it is more comfortable than anything else, and far 
safer, for w-heeling induces copious perspiration, and to cool 
off safely when wearing damp cotton is a hard thing to 
accomplish. Time and again one is forcibly impressed with 
the fact that though in the sun it is just as hot in England 
or France as anywhere else, — whether Iceland or Florida, — 
yet in the shade it is as a rule cooler the higher the altitude 
or latitude. England is much nearer the pole than any part 
of the States, and Paris is much farther north than Quebec. 
The nights are almost invariably cool, and in the day time 
one gets comfortable with surprising quickness when for- 
saking the shadeless road for the shelter of the trees. Fur- 
thermore, one frequently 'has occasion to enter 'Cathedrals, 
chateaux or other large buildings where the danger of get- 
ting cold is not slight unless one is clad in wool. 

The lightest French flannel or other alLwool over-shirt 
with detachable collar will be found preferable. Some riders 
praise the celluloid or rubber collars and cuffs for steady 
use. Others prefer the flannel 'Collar on the road, changing 
to linen at evening. Few foreign wheelmen will be noticed 
riding without a coat; it is in their opinion bad form to 
appear coatless on the wheel. Any one who 'wears woolen 
under and outer shirts will find a sweater needless and an 
incumbrance in the summer months, except, perhaps, in the 
higher parts of Switzerland or Scandinavia. 

In the matter of wheel woman’s attire tastes so differ 
tliat advice will be superfluous. I will only quote one who 
has toured as saying that her individual preference is for a 
woolen skirt reaching to midway the knee and ankle. (Eng- 
lish women ride in skirts as long as those of street dresses; 
French women for the most part with no skirts at all, pre- 
ferring bloomers.) Skirt and coat, my informant thinks, 
should be of some stout, mediuim-colored material, for they 
get hard usage, mud is frequent, and dust not rare. S'he 


104 


GOING ABROAD? 


extols wash-silk waists because they can be carried so easily. 
For tihe hat she counsels felt. And she says 'that on her 
next trip she shall take a light silk gown, a summer silk, for 
use evenings if her traveling bag can meet her every 
night, or at any rate once a week, and in cities where she 
may tarry a day or more. Last time she lived two months 
in a bicycle suit, and she says she will not do it again. 

In the larger cities it is usually possible to get washing 
done in 24 hours, sometimes less, but it is not so easy in the 
small cities and towns. Those who rest on Sundays and on 
no other days will find the laundry question bothersome. 
For these reasons it is best to be equipped with at least three 
sets of underclothing. One wheelman told me he had a 
trunk meet him once a week, and that he carried in it 
enough underwear to let him accumulate soiled garments 
for a month. Then he would have the garments all washed 
at once. 

The cyclists’ waterproof cape that may be bought in an 
English cycle supply shop for from one to two dollars, is 
light and easily portable. In Great Britain it is reasonably 
sure to prove worth the carrying, and on the Continent one 
is frequently glad to have it. 

Maps are essential; road books are useful, though not 
indispensable. Maps of foreign countries can be bought 
there in such variety and of such excellence that I shall not 
try to specify. At the stationers’ shops or the Club head- 
quarters you can quickly suit your purse and your ideas as 
to detail and bulk. The C. T. C. road books are too vol- 
uminous and bulky to meet the needs of the American cy- 
clist who tours rapidly, and if he sticks to main-traveled 
roads, as ordinarily he will, they are by no means essential. 
It takes three bulky volumes to cover England and Wales 
alone. Doubtless they are very useful to English members 
touring out from home and back, wanting to vary their 
trips, but for American members a single small volume de- 
scribing the principal routes would be to my mind much 
more serviceable. An English road book did me so little 
good that after reaching France I relied wholly on the map, 
with the information given by landlords, always cheerfully 


BICYCLE TOURING. 


105 


and usually with accuracy. By the way, each T. C. F. hotel 
is supposed to have a map of its neighborhood, in detail, 
and if your own map is not on the large scale you can use 
the hotel map each night to plan out the next day’s work. 
My own preference would be against getting any maps be- 
fore leaving home. A rough outline of the deshed tour, 
with a list of the countries and larger places to be visited, is 
likely to be quite enough to decide on in advance. 

COMMENT ON COUNTRIES. 

GREAT BRITAIN. No customs duty on bicycles. 
Bicycle outfitting shops will be found in any of the ports at 
which the tourist ma}^ land. Liverpool, indeed, is held by 
some experienced travelers to be a better place than London 
for shopping. If you land at Queenstown for the Irish tour, 
go to Cork for what you may need. Ireland is wet; prepare 
for showers and steady rains. In those European countries 
in which the high ground is on the west side, more rain 
falls there than on the east side. Manchester has an average 
annual rainfall of 36 inches, where that of London is 25, 
Glasgow 44 and Edinburgh 38. In Scotland the wettest 
months are July and August, the worst time of the whole 
year being about the middle of August. In May east and 
west winds are equally common in Scotland; from June, to 
August the proportion of west wind increases till it blows 
more than twice as often as the east wind. In England the 
prevailing winds are westerly, so that it is much easier to 
tour toward London from the west than to go west from 
London. The midland countries give the most level riding, 
and the fen country, from Cambridge to the sea, has few 
slopes. The southern coast is hilly, and for a tour through 
Devonshire and Cornwall stout legs are necessary. The 
Isle of Wight is about all up and down, yet a delightful spot. 
Wales, though mountainous, has a go'od deal of level road, 
with some long coasts that are exceedingly enjoyable. 
Crowded streets are the rule for some miles from the centre 
of London; avoid them if you choose by using the train, or 
if it suits your plans take a Thames steamboat up river as 
far as Kew, or down river where you will, being prepared to 



io6 


GOING ABROAD? 


pay twice as much for the carriage of your bicycle as for 
that of yourself. If you push your wheel on a London side- 
walk, you are reasonably sure to get arrested. 

CHANNEL ISLANDS. No duty on bicycles. These 
islands are British possessions. The difference between their 
administration and tbat of England itself concerns the bicy- 
clist in but one particular, viz., the provision in Guernsey 
that every bicycle shall carry a number on a tin rectangle 
hung beneath the saddle, and a jingle bell. The hotel pro- 
prietor furnishes these at a cost of six cents for each bicycle. 
If there is a law requiring the jingle bell in Jersey it is not 
enforced, and no numbers are required for tourists’ wheels. 
The riding, on these islands is hilly, but the roads are good 
and the scenery is charming. They have very mild winters^ 
and wheeling over them is attractive at any time of year. 

FR.\NCE. Duty, 220 francs for each 100 kil'os, — about 
25 cents a pound. This duty is not collected from a member 
of the C. T. C. or the T. C. F. who accompanies his wheel 
and presents his ticket of membership for the current year at 
any seaport or frontier town. (For brevity’s sake I will not 
in each case repeat the statement that L. A. W. members 
have C. T. C. privileges when they have arranged therefor.) 
Wheelmen who are not club members may be required to 
pay the duty, usually $7 or $8, get a receipt for it, and col- 
lect it at the point where they may leave the Country, but the 
law is not uniformly enforced. When the deposit is made a 
lead seal is attached to the bicycle, with the custom house 
mark stamped on it. Notice that in order to avoid the de- 
posit the club member must accompany his wheel, and he 
must present himself to the customs officers, not leaving the 
matter to anybody else. 

If I understand it aright, the French officials discrim- 
inate between the wheelmen entering the country for the 
first time in any given year, and the wheelman w'ho is re- 
enter'ing it. Whether Frenchmen or foreigner, club member 
or not, if you leave France with the intention of returning 
presently, you must have a lead seal attached to the bicycle 
as you cross the frontier in order to avoid the payment of 
duty when you return. 


BICYCLE TOURING. 


107 


Qijite separate from the duty is the annual tax knposed 
on bicycles. All foreigners who declare at the port of entry 
that it is not their intention to remain in France more than 
three months are exempted from this tax. On payment of 
T2 cents they get a certificate to this effect, which they must 
show on demand of any official; nob'ody ever asked to see 
mine. A C. T. C. membership ticket may be useful to back 
up an aissertion that one is a tourist. 

The law requires a name plate on each bicycle. Lacking 
one of metal, the tourist can make a visiting cafrd answer, or 
a plain card with name and address written cm it, tied to the 
steering head. 

The roads of France, taken as a whole, are the best in 
the world, but this does not mean that it has no bad roads, 
or that from one end of the country to the other riding is of 
the cinder-track variety. In the macafdam surface there is 
much flinty material, hard on tires, and the surface itself is 
often so worn that the stones give an incessant vibration, 
w*hich sometimes make the American long for the layer of 
dust that forms a sort of cushion on the roads with which he 
is familiar. The main highways are military roads, often run- 
ning as straight as an arrow with utter disregard of hills and 
valleys, so that although long hills may not be met with more 
than twice a day, the slopes are almost continuous where the 
country is rolling. Many American roads and few French 
roads follow water courses; the rarity of brooks and ponds 
is noticeable to the New Englander. The great merit of the 
French road is its freedom from ruts, and its quick-drying 
properties. The fastest riding we did was in an hour on a 
French road begun when a heavy thunder shower had not 
wholly passed. 

Some of the highways out of Paris are paved with cobble 
stones for miles. The maps show which these are. Dodge 
them by taking the train to a surburban station; or where a 
steam tram makes it possible, put your wheel aboard and 
ride to the end of the route. For instance, much the best 
way to start down the Seine valley is to take the tram to St. 
Germain. 

Some tourists advo\:ate taking the train to Paris from 


io8 


GOING ABROAD? 


Havre or Boulogne, or wherever one lands, if he has come 
direct from the States, on the ground tha,t the sea voyage 
has left him in poor condition to start touring at once, and 
that probably some outfitting in Paris will be desirable. Yet 
the road between Paris and the sea is charming. The beau- 
ties of the valley of the Seine would be as famtous as those 
of the Rhine or Thames if passenger steamers could ply 
between Rouen and the capitol. Brittany is more picturesque 
than Normandy. On the whole I enjoyed the valley of the 
Loire more than either. In Normandy and Brittany the 
usual breezes are from the west. On the other hand, we 
found a strong wdnd blowing down the Loire, from north- 
east to southwest, almost steadily for a month. From Paris, 
then, one would better go down the Loiire to Angers or 
Nantes, and thence back along the northern Breton coast. 
In the Rhone valley is found the powerful and distressing 
wind knowui as the mistral, violent, dry, bitterly cold. It 
rages most in the wdnter, but at intervals thirough the rest of 
the year makes wheeling against it a painful task, for days at 
a time. So ride down the Rhone valley from Lyons, and as 
it is a northwest wind, try to plan your riding along the 
coast of Southern France and the Riviera from west to east. 

The region southwest of Paris is dull till you reach the 
Jura, and the prevailing winds there come from the direction 
of Switzerland. So if you start from Paris, unless you care 
to ride as far as Fontainebleau, better make by rail the whole 
distance to Dijon or Macon. 

The best month for touring the Riviera is April; north- 
ern Normandy, May; southern Normandy and Touraine, 
September; Brittany is the coolest region you will find in 
France in mid-summer. It is undeniably hot in France in 
the middle of a summer day. The summer of 1899 was un- 
doubtedly exceptional, and perhaps in no other summer 
w^ould w^e have gone through July and August without a sin- 
gle rainy day. but I am convinced that though a mid-sum- 
mer tour in France is far better than no tour at all, yet next 
time I wx)uld choose a cooler country for mid-summer riding. 

The small degree to which rain annoys the tourist in 
France may be judged from the following averages of the 


BICYCLE TOURING. 


109 


rainy days in Paris in each month of the last three years: 
January, 5; February, 5; March, 6; April, 8; May, 6; June, 
4; July, 3; August, 3; September, 2; October, 2; November, 
4: December, 4. 

BELGIUM. Duty on bicycles, 12 per cent, ad valorem. 
This will be returned to the tourist on leaving the country 
if he crosses the frontier at a custom house and presents his 
receipt. Club members have concessions, but their condi- 
tions change so from time to time that perhaps when this is 
read, new regulations will be in force. The smallest steam- 
boats have the shrillest whistles, and little Belgium is very 
noisy when cyclists are concerned. At this writing mem- 
bers of the C. T. C. and T. C. F. are allowed to take their 
wheels into Belgium free on exhibition of membership card, 
which must bear a photograph of the member. No formality 
is required of members in leaving the country. 

The man who pays the duty when he enters Belgium 
should give some forethought to his departure if he wants his 
money back without danger of delay. If he is to leave for 
Paris by rail, he would better write two or three days ahead 
to the customs official at Quevy or Erquelinnes (according 
to his route) and inform him as to which train he will use. 
The 'official will stamp the receipt, and if he finds the wheel 
described in it in the baggage van, will refund the money 
without delay. It is better, however, to ride your wheel out 
of Belgium if you can do so without inconvenience. 

Belgium has many excellent roads, but it also has many 
miles of cobble stones. Its officials are apt to be officious, 
and taken altogether it is not on«e of the most attractive 
countries for bicyclists. 

HOLLAND. Duty, 5 per cent, ad valorem. Tourists 
enter without having to pay duty or make deposit, and no 
bother need be apprehended. The brick-paved roads are 
criticized by some tourists, extolled by others; many of them 
are now provided with side-paths for bicycles. One is al- 
lowed to ride along the tow-paths of the canals, and as the 
country is as flat as a table, it is the lazy wheelman’s Para- 
dise. Great elms shade many of the roads for miles. The 
Dutch Cycling Club has put up plentiful sign-posts, so that 


no 


GOING ABROAD? 


the complete ignorance of the language on the part of almost 
every foreigner is not likely to be troublesome. Some Eng- 
lish-speaking person will be found at most of the hotels, and 
it is a language understood in most of the better shops. In 
the matter of living expenses be prepared to find it the cost- 
liest country on the Continent. Also be prepared for more 
danger of punctures by hob-nails than almost anywhere else, 
and for a good deal of wet weather. 

SWITZERI.AND. Duty, 70 francs for each too kilos, — 
about six cents a pound. Members of the C. T. C. get relief 
from paying this by securing a special cycle ticket from the 
Secretary, which must bear the member’s photograph, pre- 
ferably carte-de-visite sSize. Members of the T. C. F. get the 
same relief by presenting their membership tickets, but these 
too must bear the photograph, countersigned by the mem- 
ber. No formality is required of club members on leaving 
the country. Bicyclists who are not club members get back 
the duty on departure by presenting the receipt to the cus- 
toms official at the frontier. 

The best time for wheeling in Switzerland is in June and 
the first fortnight in July. The days are then at their longest, 
— more of an advantage in mountainous than in flat countries. 
It is no longer cold, and yet the heat has not become op- 
pressive. The valleys of the Alps are hot in ni'idsummer in 
the middle of the day, however cold may be the passes and 
the heights. Then, too, the landlords have not put their 
prices to top notch as they do after July 14, when the hordes 
of tourists come. Nor have the roads, freshly put in condi- 
tion, yet been cut up or made powdery by the diligence and 
the summer 'traffic. 

But Switzerland all through the summer is delightful, 
and strange as it may seem, the bicyclist, who better than 
anybody else appreciates the meaning of the phrase, ‘hhe 
ups and downs of life,” will find it one of 'the best 'touring 
grounds in Europe. Though Switzerland is all hills, there 
are many miles of fairly level road. Along Lake Lucerne, 
for instance, with Mt. Rigi on one side and Mt. Pilatus on 
the other, both rising sharp from the water’s edge, and the 
southern end of the lake so walled by heights that the road 


BICYCLE TOURING. 


1 1 1 


has to be carried along by frequent tunnels, this road, the 
Axenstrasse, is nearly as level as the drives in Central Park. 
Around Lake Geneva, too, and up the Rhone valley the 
roads are surprisingly level. The Engadine, with beauties 
among the mos't remarkable in Europe, is traversed by a road 
6o miles long, at a mean altitude exceeding that of the lofti- 
est peak in Great Britain, yet with so little gradient that one 
can ride from end to end without dismounting. Though 
from the highest to the lowest point of the road you drop 
more than two thousand feet, yet the drop is so evenly dis- 
tributed over so many miles that you can ride from Martins- 
bruck in the Lower Engadine to Moloja in the Upper with- 
out difficulty. 

On the passes it is all up or all down, but as their roads 
were built with military purposes in view, and the grades had 
to be easy to permit the dragging of cannon over them, 
there are no pitches too steep to wheel down, as you repeat- 
edly find in an American mountain region. Some wheelmen 
maintain that it is actually easier to ascend an Alpine grade 
with a bicycle than without one, — that by throwing the 
weight forward on the handle bar, they can walk up a moun- 
tain faster than the unincumbered pedestrian. 

One rider reports that in making a Swiss tour he found 
his tires so thin he did not dare use the brake, so he bought 
a pine log about four feet long and eight or ten inches thick, 
into which he drove a nail so that he could drag it behind 
the bicycle by means of a cord nine or ten feet long, attached 
to the saddle post. This drag he found a great saving of 
strength on the down grades of three passes. 

Look out for the diligence in Switzerland. The driver 
thinks he owns the road and seems to have a spite against 
all wheelmen. His whip-lash is a more formidable weapon 
than any you can command, and it is the better part of valor 
to submit humbly to being crowded into the ditch. 

ITALY. Duty 42.60 lire, — about $8.22 on each bicycle. 
As for Switzerland, members of the C. T. C. get relief from 
paying this by securing a special cycle ticket^ from the Sec- 
retary; and members of the T. C. F. enter by simply show- 
ing usual membership ticket, the photograph on it not being 


II2 


GOING ABROAD? 


absolutely necessary, but advised by the T. C. F. officials to 
guarantee identity. The Italian officials are the strictest on 
the Continent in the matter of bicycles, and it is well to 
take precautions against trouble with them. No formality 
is required of T. C. F. members on leaving the country. 
Tourists who are not club members must deposit the duty, 
getting it back on departing. The leaden seal attached to 
the machine on entry should not be disturbed. 

Italian roads have as a rule good surface and poor 
grades. About Genoa, however, are some that are poor in 
every regard. From the Swiss passes to the Po, and thence 
to Venice or Florence is good riding, and so it is for the 
greater part of the way to Rome. But on the Campagna 
they deteriorate, and then the farther south of Rome one 
gets, the worse the roads. In July and August Italian w’heel- 
men rarely ride unless in the early morning or late after- 
noon, and tourists will find Italy decidedly hot in those 
months. The spring is far better, but the passes from 
Switzerland then have too much sno-w to be crossed with 
any comfort, and that beautiful first descent into Italy would 
be missed. So on the whole the autumn is the best time 
for a tour toward the Eternal City. In Southern Italy sno'W 
is so rare that touring might go on all through the winter. 

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. Duty on bicycles imported 
for sale, 25 florins, — $12.06. Tourists deposit $10 at the cus- 
tom-house, refunded on departure; they are also required to 
swear to a declaration that the bicycle is not for sale and 
that it is their intention to remain only temporarily in Aus- 
tria. C. T. C. members get free entry on presentation of 
membership ticket with photograph attached, but must get 
the special cycle permit at the frontier, which permit must 
be discharged at the custom house where the cyclist leaves 
the country. The roads are excellent, and the Tyrol is an 
especially attractive region for a tour. 

GERMANY. Duty, 24 marks for each 100 kilos, — about 
three cents a pound. The bicycles brought by tourists are 
by law classed as ^'traveling effects,’’ and as s>uc'h are exempt 
from duty when no doubt exists that the machine serves 


BICYCLE TOURING. 


113 

solely for the private and pers-onal use of the touri-st. It is 
rare that any trouble arises, but occasio-nally the duty is 
exacted on the Alsace-Lorraine frontier, and it will then be 
returned only on condition that the cyclist leaves the coun- 
try by the same custom-house as that by which he entered. 

German roads are excellent, but not up to those of 
France, on the whole. The roads in the Black Forest are to 
be particularly commended, adding much to the enjoyment 
of a region famous for its attractions. It does not get its 
name from being a continuous stretch of woodland, but from 
the dark, pine-covered mountains. Yet though mountainous, 
it has many miles of fairly level road, besides coasts of fabu- 
lous length. This district is about 50 by 100 miles, east and 
north of the upper Rhine, and may be well entered by way 
of Baden-Baden, Strasslburg, Freiburg, or Schaffhausen. It 
is a region where mid-day heat is less oppressive than on 
lower levels, the scenery is fine, and the hotels are both good 
and reasonable. The Llartz Mountains are less visited by 
foreign tourists, but are extolled by those who have entered 
them. . They are said to have one coast 27 miles long that 
can be ridden without touching the feet to the pedals, yet 
with roadbed so good and slope so gentle that there is no 
danger of a spill. 

A favorite trip is from Rotterdam or Amsterdam up the 
Rhine Valley to Switzerland. The prevailing winds blow up 
the river, but are mot considerable enough to make essential 
difference. Perhaps they would be more than offset by the 
slight advantage in sliding down with the stream. 

DENMARK. Duty, 10 per cent, ad valorem. The C. 
T. C. announcement of customs arrangements says that “no 
duty is ever levied in Denmark on tourists’ cycles, but, on 
the contrary, every possible facility is offered with a view 
to encourage cyclists to travel in Denmark.” On the other 
hand, the T. C. F. book says: “Every traveler entering Den- 
mark with his bicycle must have a lead seal put on his ma- 
chine and pay the duty. Its return is made to him at the 
same custom-house, or in other custom-houses by virtue of 
a special authorization.” The country has good roads, 
plenty of daylight in summer, and comfortable hotels in all 


GOING ABROAD? 


114 

large towns. If one can escape the frequent showers, he 
will have a pleasant trip there. 

NORWAY. Duty, 30 kroner, — about $8.15. C. T. C. 
members are exempt, the Club being known to the Nor- 
wegian customs authorities as the ‘‘International Touring 
Club for Cyclists.” The T. C. F. does not report any ar- 
rangement with Norway. Other tourists have the money 
refunded on departure in the usual way. The roads are kept 
in excellent repair. The surface is a mixture of clay and 
sand, more elastic than macadam, but very stkky after rain. 

SWEDEN. Duty, 15 per cent, ad valorem. The C. T. 
C. and T. C. F. announcements as to the customs practice 
again differ. The C. T. C. says: “Used cycles belonging 

to tourists are allowed to enter duty free after examination 
by the customs, and on the signing in eadh case of a declara- 
tion by the owner to the effect that the machine is imported 
for his own use and not for sale.” The T. C. F. says that 
the tourist must make a deposit of the duty, and that in es- 
timating this the packing, insurance and freight charges are 
taken into account. When the cyclist enters Sweden by way 
of Stockholm, Malmo, Landskrona, Helsingborg, Stonistad, 
Charlottenberg, or Storlim, there are no special formalities 
to be observed. If, however, be enters by any other customs 
bureau, a letter will have to be addressed to the director- 
general of the customs asking permission to enter. In order 
to have the deposit refunded in this case, the cyclist will 
have to leave the country by the port of entry. In other 
cases, the deposit will be refunded by the above-named cus- 
tom-houses. If the tourist remains more than sixty days, 
the deposit is forfeited. 

I have heard Scandinavia more highly extolled for bi- 
cycle touring than any other region in Europe. The length 
of the days, the coolness of the climate, the grandeur of 
much of the scenery, the hospitality and honesty of the 
people, the economy of expense, — all are considerations pre- 
sented for deciding the wheelman to visit the land of the 
Norseman. 

RUSSIA. Duty, 12 roubles, gold, — ^about $9.35. The C. 
T. C. book says that cyclists must deposit the ^duty, care 


BICYCLE TOURING. 


”5 


being taken to state expressly that the money is being only 
deposited, and that the machine will be re-exported. This 
deposit is returned on leaving the country, but as the de- 
posit fund is kept totally distinct from the general fund in 
each custom-house, the deposit cannot be returned unless 
there is enoug^h money on hand for that particular purpose. 
Failing this, the Chief of the custom-house must apply to St. 
Petersburg, and months may elapse before he is in a position 
to repay the money. In such a case the tourist should write to 
the British or American consul at St. Petersburg, asking him 
to get the deposit refunded. The T. C. F. book declares that 
instructions have been given by the Customs Department 
so that the formalities may be accomplished in an expedi- 
tious manner. That would certainly seem desirable. The 
fact is that Russia hampers the cyclist in a way that would be 
ludicrous were it not so annoying. For instance, the Rus- 
sian cyclist must qualify himself for a permit to ride, by 
passing an examination. He must carry two huge number 
plates so that he can be identified from either direction. He 
is liable to punishment if he rings his bell without need, and 
again to fine if he doesn’t ring it where there is need, and 
nothing but a bell is allowed for a signal. Cyclists together 
must ride in single file, at least 12 feet apart. And there are 
other regulations like these said to prevail in St. Petersburg 
that must make wheeling a burden to the native cyclist. 
Whether the foreigner is equally restricted, I don’t know, 
but I heard of one man who said money wouldnT, induce him 
to take a bicycle into Russia again. 

SPAIN. Duty, 70 pesetas per 100 kilos, — about six cents 
a pound. This must be deposited unless the cyclist can give 
as bail a well-known merchant or a frontier forwarding 
agent who will be responsible for him. The C. T. C. says 
the deposit will be refunded only at the same custom-house; 
the T. C. F. says it will be refunded at any custom-house. 
To lessen the bother of the many worrying formalities, it 
is wise to obtain the services of a commissionaire on the 
frontier, or an international custom-house broker at the 
frontier towns of Hendaye or Cerbere. If a mistake is made 
in the declaration, the amount of duty will be forfeited and 


ii6 


GOING ABROAD? 


a fine imposed. The main roads of Spain are good as a rule, 
though not so good as those of France and Italy. The 
American is not likelly to suffer any indignities because of 
his nationality, but if he fear's them, let him pass as an Eng- 
lishman. It is a dry country, the average annual rainfall at 
Madrid being g inches against 45 in New York and Boston. 

OTHER COUNTRIES. So few American cyclists are 
likely to tour in other European countries that numerous 
details about them need not be given. Some of the duties 
are: Portugal, 27 pei* cent, ad valorem; cyclist can get de- 

posit refunded at any frontier station; in some places, notably 
Lisbon, duty not enforced and cycles enter free. Roumania, 
$1.55 each, deposit refunded at any custom-house. Turkey, 
8 per cent, on entry, 2 per cent, on departure. Bulgaria, 14 
per cent, and 2 per cent additional for the octroi; duty will 
be refunded at any frontier station. Greece, octroi of 40 
cents and a duty of $2; will be refunded less $i for expenses 
and a small supplement if the cyclist does not leave the 
country by the same custom-house. Servia, 8 per cent, ad 
valorem, plus 7 per cent, on amount of duty so levied. 


EN ROUTE. 


In Great Britain the law of the road requires you to 
keep to the left on meeting anything going in the opposite 
direction, to pass on the right anything going in the same 
direction. In France and generally elsewhere on the Conti- 
nent the rule is as in the United States, keep to the right and 
pass to the left, but I understand that in Bohemia, in some 
parts of Holland, and in a few Italian cities, the rule is as in 
England. If you are on the wrong side, you can recover no 
damages in case of accident, but on the other hand are liable 
to pay them yourself. On meeting a led horse, go by on the 
side of the man in charge of him. Passing between two 
teams or bicycles is dangerous work, but the most dangerous 
thing of all is to cut close to a corner when you cannot see 
what may be coming around it. In Great Britain it is illegal 
to ride on any path set aside for foot passengers, under any 
circumstances; in France such a path may be used when the 


BICYCLE TOURING. 


117 

road is undergoing repairs or for some o-th'er reason is im- 
passable. 

Dangerous hills are marked in Great Britain and gener- 
ally throughout Central Europe by warning signs put up by 
the touring clubs. The T. C. F. alone has put up about 2,000 
of these. Both in England and France, however, an excess 
of caution has frequently put them at the top of hills down 
which any fairly skilful rider can easily ride. After being 
.fooled two or three times, the American rider, man or 
woman, will usually refuse to dismount till the reason for it 
is palpable. 

Ride with the handle-bar high,— you are there to see, 
not to scorch. Take care of your wheel; its neglect may ruin 
your trip. Nowhere is the trite truth about the stitch in time 
saving nine more applicable than in bicycle touring. Note 
the first unusual click, jar, or creak, and locate the cause at 
once if you can. Sometimes after a long hunt you will find 
the squeak is nothing more serious than a whim of the saddle 
spring, but then again you will find it the sign of trouble that 
might become serious. On wet roads the flying particles of 
mud work into the chain and tighten it, sometimes beyoiivd 
the breaking point. So when the chain gets to grinding 
and snapping, try loosening it a bit if you find it taut. Should 
the rivet of a link break, it can be temporarily mended with 
a bit of wire, well enough to get you to the next repair shop. 
If you lose a screw-driver or have none, a coin put in the slot 
of the screw and gripped by the wrench will often serve. A 
nut or bolt that has stuck, can sometimes be started by 
warming it a little, sometimes by applying hot vinegar. 
Other means failing, get as much oil on it as you can and let 
it soak for a few hours. Keep the bearings of your machine 
oiled. A drop of oil to each set of balls once every hundred 
miles is an easy rule to remember. Too much oil is almost 
as bad as too little, though to run dry balls is certainly bad 
enough. 

Better clean your wheel yourself unless you send it to a 
bicycle shop for that purpose. The ordinary hostler or 
“boots” knows nothing about a bicycle, and is as likely as 
not to wash it down as he would a carriage. At a very few 


ii8 


GOING ABROAD? 


hotels somebody will without your order clean your wheel 
in the hope of a fee, but usually it will not even be so much 
as wiped off if you arrive in the rain. If you care about the 
polish of the enamel, don’t scrape dried mud off the frame; 
soak it first with a damp sponge or cloth. If you want to 
give the chain a soak, you can buy a few cents’ worth of pe- 
troleum in any village; find an old can, coil the chain in the 
bottom of it, just cover it with petroleum, and the next 
morning the chain v/ill be clean as a whistle, but you would 
better oil the rivets before using it. 

After using the pedal mount a long time, constant trouble 
with loosening cranks led me to go back to the step mount. 
Whether the trouble stopped because of the change in 
mounting, or because I got a wheel with the cranks put on 
in the old way and the right way, I don’t know. If the pedal 
mount does strain the machine, it is just as well to use the 
step when touring. 

Each to his taste in the matter of the day’s work. My 
own preference on European roads when riding wi'th men 
would be from 35 to 45 miles a day; with w’omen, 20 to 35 
miles a day. One goes abroad chiefly for the pleasures of 
travel, not for the benefits of physical work, which though 
useful, should be subsidiary, to my mind. Yet many Ameri- 
cans whizz through Europe at the rate of from 50 to 70 miles 
a day, and say they like it. My own vote would go for eight 
miles an hour as the average speed, day in and day out, but 
if anybody wants to make it ten, the roads won’t stop him 
from doing iT. 

The man who isn’t used to exercise before breakfast, 
would be rash to start in on it at the outset of a tour where 
bad dyspepsia or a physical collapse would mean so much 
disappointment. All the hygienists say that any work direct- 
ly after eating is dangerous, but slow riding is not hard 
enough work to make a long rest essential after the usual 
Continental morning or mid-day meal. 

He who makes long distances can’t avoid riding in the 
middle of the day, but when the sun shines, he is sure to 
perspire then. Some men think they can accomplish the 
most and get the most enjoyment out of wheeling in the late 


BICYCLE TOURING. 


119 

afternoon, but for my part 1 like to get to a hotel in time to 
rest and clean up comfortably before dinner-time. There is 
great pleasure in wheeling in the long, cool English twi- 
lights of mid-summer. In the matter of wind, you will usu- 
ally find the evenings the best for wheeling everywhere. The 
force of the wind reaches its maximum ordinarily about two 
in the afternoon, being then on an avet-p'^e about twice as 
strong as it is in the early morning. 

The luggage problem is one that the tourist always has 
with him, and that’s the puzzle of it. One rule is to make a 
list of everything you think you must carry, and then leave 
out half of it. Every ounce counts. Some tourists carry ab- 
solutely nothing on their wheels, but have a bag meet them 
at every stopping place. One who was following this plan 
told me that in the morning he turned his bag over to the 
hotel porter with instructions to send it to such-and-such a 
place. At first he gave the name of the hotel where he 
meant to pass the night, but some annoyance led him to 
have the bag sent to the station. On arrival ’he sent the hotel 
porter for it, and averred that he got it regularly and speed- 
ily. The method is not costly, but I should be slow to put 
credence in its accuracy, and it has the “out” of making it 
necessary every morning to determine where one is to pass 
the night. Let a rain storm start in at noon with your des- 
tination 20 or 30 miles away and things are awkward if you 
are far from the railroad. But it certainly is a great comfort 
to have fresh clothes every evening, and a costume fit for 
theatre or anything else. 

My own plan has been to meet the bag once a week, but 
next time if any women were of the party, I should make it 
a trunk. 

A few tourists, mostly youths, take only what can be car- 
ried on the wheel. This is feasible, but robs travel of many 
of the comforts and luxuries that seem to most of us worth 
the having. The laundry feature of the method is the most 
perplexing. Could one invariably get washing done in a few 
hours, the plan might be simple, but as a matter of fact that 
is not always practicable, and in some places the washer- 
women insist on two days, 


120 


GOING ABROAD? 


Provision against the extreme of 'hunger and tliirst can 
and should be carried. Chocolate is perhaps the mo'st por- 
table thing that will ward off the faintn^^ss 'of hunger. For 
thirst I have found the acidulated candies a relief, such as 
are sold here undei the name of lime fruit tablets. Similar 
candies can be bought in any of the European cities, with the 
lime or lemon taste. I.emons themselves are to be had in 
about every town, and their juice is excellent in making 
tepid water palatable. In these days of microbe-mania it 
would be unfashionable not to advise against the promiscu- 
ous drinking of water, but nevertheless I will hazard the 
theory that a healthy person doing the physical work of a 
rational bicycle tour is not in a condition to fall a quick prey 
to the omnipresent bacillus. P'or my own part I am reckless 
enough to drink anything that is drinkable. Cold water is a 
rarity on the road in England and France. Pic who well 
thinks that on a bicycle tour alcoholic beverages should not 
be used before dinner-time, if at all, can in Gr^at Britain 
buy ginger beer or ginger ale at every village grocery, and 
on the Continent he can get for a few cents at any cafe a bot- 
tle of aerated water, soda water, eau de Seitz, or whatever you 
choose to call it. But let him not run away with the idea 
that aerating water makes it innocuous; the carbonic acid 
gas with which k is charged does not rob it of any of its 
impuri'lies, and abroad much less than with us is it the cus- 
tom to filter or boil 'or distill water that is to be charged. 
The notion that a dash of brandy in a glass of water robs it 
of its unwholesomeness, is a fallacy. 

Soda fountains are rare in the big cities and unknown 
elsewhere, but one gets the same result, though less palatable, 
by calling for the ‘‘eau de seltz” and sirop, either mixing it 'to 
suit his taste or letting the waiter mix it before him. In 
Great Britain if you call for lemonade, you will get bottled 
stuff 'that will make an American sad. But call for a “lemon 
squash” and you will get the real article. In France make 
your order “citron au naturel,” when you will probably get a 
lemon, a squeezer, the soda water siphon, and the sugar. 
One seldom rides a half hour without the chance to get wine 
or beer at some wayside inn or cafe, but neither of them 


BICYCLE TOURING. 


121 


quenches the bicyclist’s thirst like sour drinks. Much drink- 
ing-, much perspiration. Resolve every morning not to take 
to drink so early that day as you did the day before. Chew- 
ing a straw ma}^ help you to resist temptation; it provokes a 
flow of saliva and lessens the misery of intense thirst. 

To gratify at once the desire to get at the soda water 
siphon at the end of the day’s work may serve a secondary 
purpose wort^h considering if you are not a steady patronizer 
of touring club hotels or if you have two or three of them to 
choose between. I am indebted to Mr. Stetson’s narrative 
for thie suggestion and he appears to have made frequent and 
profitable use of the scheme in Switzerland and N'orthern 
Italy. He and his friends would ride up to a good-looking 
cafe and dismount as if they had no intention whatever of 
staying there, but had stopped for a drink. While circulating 
the siphon, they would casually ask the waiter if he had any 
rooms to let. Forthwith the landlord or landlady would 
come cut with the most alluring terms, fearing the party 
would ride away. Thus they daily settled the matter of 
lodging without bother, embarrassment or haggling, and on 
the most thrifty basis possible. Once by reason of rain they 
arrived at an Italian hotel in the hotel omnibus from the 
station. The manager ofifered them miserable rooms at a 
price far above what they had been paying. They left the 
place in disgust and speedily found far better rooms at half 
the price. 

In Great Britain, no matter at what hour of the day or 
night the traveler asks for admission, the landlord, if he has 
accommodation to spare, must admit him. The onlly ground 
on which he is entitled to refuse to receive a traveler is, that 
he is drunk and disorderly, a person of notoriously bad char- 
acter, or is suffering from an infectious disease. On the 
other hand, to come within the category of “a traveler,” the 
cyclist mUvrt have slept at least three miles from the inn on 
the previous night. If a cyclist be turned away from the 
doors of an inn or hotel for any other reason except lack of 
accommodation, he is entitled to bring an action for dam- 
ages for any injury he may sustain by such a refusal. He 
must, however, be able to prove specific damage, either by 


122 


GOING ABROAD? 


illness to himself or injury to his machine consequent on the 
refusal. An inn- keeper is liable to compensate the cyclisit up 
to a maximum of $150 for a machine stolen or damaged, pro- 
vided that it 'has been given into the charge of a servant of 
the inn. All these rules apply in an equal degree to the tem- 
perance hotel. Against these facts must be placed the section 
of the law which provides that in case a cyclist refuses, or is 
unable to pay his bill, the landlord may detain his machine 
as .security; and if, after six weeks, the account is still un- 
settled, he may sell it after advertising the intended sale in a 
London and a local newspaper. Out of the proceeds he is 
entitled to the amount of the bill and the cost of the sale. 

TRANSPORTATION OF BICYCLES. 

By common agreement the trans- Atlantic steamship lines 
charge $2.50 for carrying a bicycle across. It is announced 
that the wheels must be crated, and perhaps on some lines 
the rule is always enforced, but the chances are that on the 
freight boats you can have your wheel taken across without 
crating if you so desire. One can save the cost of crating and 
the transportation fee as well, and at the same time guard the 
wheel perfectly against both rust and breakage, by taking it 
apart and packing it with excelsior or clothing in a large 
trunk, which will go free in the hold. If the wheel is not thus 
packed, whether it goes crated or not, the bright parts should 
be rubbed over with vaseline to prevent rust. 

If you purpose wheeling as soon as you land, have the 
wheel brought on deck the day before you are to go asihore, 
and get it into shape. You will have no better chance. 

If you are to return from the same port, your crate will 
be stored for you on the pier. In that case it may be well to 
have the crate put together with screws instead of nails. Or 
you may have crate and all sent to a bicycle shop in Liver- 
pool or Southampton or wherever it may be. The charge 
will probably be a dollar for uncrating and putting the wheel 
in shape to ride; another dollar for crating when you return. 

Should you plan starting from London, it will be better 
not to nncrate on board the boat or at the landing port, but 
to have the wheel go with you in its crate. But if you land 


BICYCLE TOURING. 


123 







at Boulogne or Havre and plan to make the start from Paris, 
you may save some expense by getting rid of the crate before 
you take the train. 

A well-made crate, with one side hinged and padlocked, 
may serve for transportation of the bicycle by rail. Or a 
wicker basket frame can be bought in England or France 
for from $5 to $10. Or for $25 you may buy a bicycle trunk, 
a huge, clumsy affair that the tourist in a hurry will shun. 
With trunk, basket or crate the handle-bar must be removed, 
and ordinarily the pedals and saddle. This means a dis- 
tressing waste of time in replacing and adjustment. 

In England the usual railway charge for carrying a 
bicycle is 12 cents for a distance not exceeding 12 miles; 25 
miles, 18 cents; 50 miles, 24 cents; 75 miles, 36 cents; 100 
miles, 48 cents, and then 12 cents more for every 50 miles. 
This often makes the cost for short distances half as much 
as the third class passenger fare, and is an outrage of the 
same quality as that found in the more benighted of the 
American States. 

France has taken the lead of the world in this matter of 
justice to bicyclists and benefit to the railway treasuries, for 
to carry bicycles free redounds to the financial advantage of 
the railway in the long run. By ministerial decree no French 
railway can make any charge for uncrated bicycles accom- 
panied by the owner except a fee of two cents for registra- 
tion, i. e., what we call checking, the only difference being 
that one gets a paper slip instead of a brass 'tag. I under- 
stand that in France if your wheel is crated and you have 
other than hand-luggage, all that is to go in the baggage 
car is weighed together, wheel included, and if the total is in 
excels of the 66 pounds free, you pay the excess baggage 
charge. If the wheel is sent unaccompanied, the usual freight 
or express tariffs apply. 

In Germany the railway fee for bicycles is half a mark, 
J2 cents, mo matter what the distance. They are not admitted 
on exp-ress trains. In Belgium bicycles are carried as bag- 
gage, with the usual charges, when not crated; if crated they 
go at the rates of other merchandise. In Italy the railroads 
will not be responsible for damage to bicycles not crated. As 


124 


GOING ABROAD? 


a rule, on the Con'tinent outside France and Germany the 
customary baggage charges extend to bicycles. In Italy the 
railroads will not be responsible for damage to bicycles not 
crated. In England if the wheel goes at the Company’s risk, 
25 per cent, is added to the fee when the owner accompanies 
the wheel: for forwarding an unaccompanied wheel, 33 per 
cent, more is charged if it is to go at the Company’s risk than 
if at the owner’s risk. 

After you have paid the exorbitant cost of a bicycle ticket 
on an English railway and have turned over the wdieel to the 
baggage man, he always acts a request for a tip for himself, 
and if you overlook it, is likely to hunt you up in the train 
and smilingly inform you that the wheel has been put on 
board safe'ly. The railroad having swindled you, the porter 
is not likely to meet with a cheerful reception; you are under 
no obligation to tip him unless you see fit. In France, where 
the road charges nothing, the railway people seem to expect 
nothing, but perhaps the wheel will be put aboard with more 
care if you produce a few cents. Anyhow, both in France 
and England it is wiser to put the machine on the car ^ with 
your own hands. At the end of the journey it is equa)lly wise 
to get your wheel yourself as it is handed from the car. In 
England half the time you will get into the car and help your- 
self. 

American tourists who take their own wheels abroad will 
/ 

have no question raised at the custom-house on their return, 
unless perchance they have taken an English wheel with them. 
In such rare cases it would be well to forestall objection by 
getting the wheel registered at the custom-house before de- 
parture. A bicycle bought abroad can be brought in free 
only in case the owner has used it a year. So the law says, 
and perhaps it is enforced, but no case of it has come to my 
attention. 

The Canadian duties may boither somewhat a tourist 
gcxing from the United States by one of the Canadian lines. 
L. A. W. members avoid the payment of Canadian duties by 
complying with certain formalities, but I should think the 
easiest way would be to express the wheel in bond to the 
steamship. 


CHAPTER VI. 


HOW TO STAY. 

European hotels are in the main supported by tourists. 
Contrasted with hotels of the same class here, the foreign 
hotel excels in cooking, comfort, and economy; the Ameri- 
can hotel excels in elegance, formality, and pretension. 
Europe has almost no hotels that will approach the more 
gorgeous of the new caravanseries o-f New York, Boston, 
and Chicago in furniture, decorations, and general sumptu- 
ousness; and few American hotels set as goo-d a table, judged 
by quality, not quantity, as you may find in nearly every city 
on the Continent. In almost every respect the hotels of 
such places as Geneva, Florence, Lyons, Brussels and Am- 
sterdam are far superior to those in cities oI corresponding 
population on tins side of the water. Our village taverns 
do not begin to equal those of Europe in cleanliness, cook- 
ing, and all the essentials of comfort. 

No, not all, for from the tenement house to the palatial 
villa we are far ahead of Europe in two very important ele- 
ments ^*f comfort — lighting and heating. Rarely will you 
find the electric light in a European hotel chamber; almost 
as rareTy will you find a gas burner; and a lamp is a luxury 
that comes high. The candle is still the almost universal 
illuminant for chambers, both in public and private houses. 
Indeed, the European thinks the hotel is a house, to be used 
as much like a dwelling as possible. It has its living rooms, 
its parlors, its dining and smoking rooms, and the notion 
that with these at hand anybody can want to occupy a cham- 
ber, except for the time of sleeping and dressing, seems to 
the European absurd! His ancestors went to bed by candle- 
light and all his neighbors go to bed by candle-light, and 
why shouldn’t the Americpu? If he wants to read, let him 
sit m the parlor; if he wants to get warm, let hi n 


126 


GOING ABROAD? 


come into the public rooms, always well warmed. And 
if he prefers the privacy of his chamber, let him pay 
the extra cost of lighting and heating it. To be sure, the 
public parlors are not always commodious or attractive, are 
usually inferior to those of our hotels, and ladies’ parlors 
are rare in hotels not designed for summer tourists, notably 
those of Austria, but the European system contempbtes 
private parlors, suites of rooms, and the guest who cannot 
afford them is not supposed to be in a position to find fault. 

The system of payment galls the American. He has 
been brought up on the plan of paying a lump sum for his 
living, so much a day or week, with about everything thrown 
in. On the contrary, the European tendency is to itemize 
everything. On this side the water, the broad spirit of gen- 
erosity; on the other, the wise spirit of thrift. 

When the European landlord says his price is so much a 
day, he means to include, roughly speaking, only the com- 
mon commodities of his trade, — a bed, a roof, food, and the 
public rooms. 

Viewed in this light, the charges are not so extortionate 
as many travelers represent them to be. If in the States a 
man pays in the lump $4 for what costs him the same abroad, 
paid for piece-meal, he has no right to complain. Rather 
may the foreigner justly complain when he comes here and 
finds the lump sum price includes many things he does not 
want, and does not use. For example, that matter of gas. 
The American landlord must charge his guests the average 
cost of the gas they burn. May not the foreigner, accus- 
tomed to pass but a short waking time in his chamber, com- 
plain at paying his share of the light consumed by the poker 
party next door? He prefers to carry his own soap; why 
should he pay the average cost of the soap consumed in that 
hotel? A trivial thing, you say, but remember the foreigner 
has learned the lesson that the cost of living is made up of 
little things, and that to be thrifty prosperously he must be 
thrifty in little things. The European charge for soap has been 
the butt of American ridicule ever since Americans began to 
travel abroad, and yet no American has ever explained why 
it is more incumbent on a landlord to furnish soap to his 


HOW TO STAY. 


127 


guests than to furnish tooth-powder. To ridicule the custom 
of a country in such matters is to argue one’s own conceit, 
to arrogate a superiority that calm consideration may be far 
from justifying. 

Our tendency is surely toward the European system 
rather than away from it. Restaurants on “the American 
plan,” erroneously so-called, no longer flourish in any of our 
large cities; nearly every hotel of consequence in the cities 
has at least one room where you can order a la carte. And 
the fee system has secured so strong a hold in our hotels 
and our sleeping cars that we must admit Americans no 
longer have an unconquerable aversion to paying the servant 
and the employer separately. 

On the other hand, the European tendency is in our di- 
rection. Every year sees fewer hotels making an extra 
charge in the bills for attendance and lights. Doubtless in 
time there will come to be a nearly uniform practice on both 
sides of the water, combining the best features of both 
systems. 

IN EUROPEAN HOTELS. 

But in the method of managing hotels, neither party 
seems disposed to yield. The portier, unknown in America, 
still reigns supreme on the Continent; the clerk, unknown 
abroad, still rules the American hostelry. 

The portier is not a porter, in our sense of the term, 
though the name is commonly thus translated, for the sake 
of convenience and from the want of any English word to 
describe his functions. He resembles the American Manager 
in everything except managing; the American Clerk in 
everything except clerking. He welcomes the coming, 
speeds the parting guest: at least in the smaller hotels he 
dickers with you about your rooms: often he sees that you 
get your bill; he hears all your complaints, and attends to 
them; he speaks your language, and several others; he tells 
you where to go and how to get there; he is a polyglot 
encyclopedia: he out-Chesterfields Chesterfield, and his ur- 
banity is never-failing. It is worth going abroad just to find 
out that a hotel man can come in constant contact with the 


128 


GOING ABROAD? 


public and yet remember courtesy, — indeed, be more than 
courteous, good-natured. 

England has no word for portier because it has no por- 
tier. There the hotel guest finds girls to show him the 
rooms and arrange about the price, and they do most of the 
work of the American hotel clerk. 

On the Continent the head-waiter ranks next in impor- 
tance to the portier, and between meals often aids him. Tell 
the head-waiter when you are going to leave and he brings 
the bill, takes the money, and delivers the change, for the 
purpose, of course, that you may not forget the waiters 
when you give your fees. 

The landlord himself you seldom see, or at least seldom 
address; he stays behind the scenes. 

Elevators, always called ‘iifts” on the other side of the 
water when named in English, ‘"ascenseurs” in French, are 
found in none but the first-class hotels, and often not in 
them. Indeed, in some countries the possession of a “lift” 
is so rare that it is made prominent in the advertisements. 
Unless you are an invalid or infirm, you are expected not to 
use it for the descent, but to walk. ^ It is usually slow and 
badly attended. 

Plumbing in the hotels is not equal to ours of today, 
but is as good as our hotels would average twenty years 
ago. It would not be rash to assert that it produces fewer 
cases of typhoid fever than the plumbing of our summer 
hotels. In this matter and in that of vermin, the prevalent 
notion in America about European discomforts is all wrong. 
Go where travelers ordinarily go and neither your nostrils 
nor your antipathies to insects will ever bear testimony 
against European habits in public houses. Sleep in a Swiss 
chalet and you are likely to get acquainted with the festive 
flea, just the same kind of a flea that I have felt in Cape 
Breton farm houses and Maine lumber camps. And I have 
seen more inhabitants in a berth of a Canadian steamer than 
during a European journey of many months. In this regard 
many of the country hotels of New England are worse off 
than even the lower grade of European hotels. 

Though there are many poor people with cleanly habits. 


HOW TO STAY. 


129 


the fact remains that as a rule poverty and filth are warm 
friends, and wherever the poor are numerous, vermin 
abound. It is doubtful if vermin are less abundant in the 
older of our large cities than in those of the Old World, 
except as we may have a smaller proportion of the very poor. 
Vermin are good travelers; they sometimes get into the 
cleanest house, into the most elegant hotel, on this side of 
the water as well as the other. But European landlords 
fight them as earnestly as do American landlords, and with 
nearly as much success. 

Cleanliness, too, is just as common in all food matters. 

AS TO HOTEL BILLS. 

The best hotels in the large cities and at the fashionable 
resorts on the Continent as a rule charge francs for 
breakfast (cafe au hit), 4 francs for luncheon (dejeuner a 
la fourcliette), 5 francs for dinner (table d’hote), and from 4 
francs up for room, lights, and attendance. Call the room 
5 francs, and in figuring allow for the fact that the franc is 
worth a little less than 20 cents. This makes a total of 
almost exactly $3 a day, to which 10 per cent, is to be 
added for fees, making the total $3.30. A few hotels will 
charge 6 francs for dinner, but on the other hand, many 
charge but 3 or 33/2 francs for luncheon. In Paris and one 
or two of the other cities you can pay 10, 20, 30 or even 
more francs for a room, but taking the Continent through, 
5 francs is a fair allowance for a good room in a first-class 
hotel. It might be safe to count on a hotel bill of from 
$3.50 to $4 a day for what would be styled as first-class in 
Paris, Berlin, or Vienna, but the foregoing figures are the 
average of a tour taking in 15 or 20 large cities and resorts. 

For actual figures of traveling on the Continent where 
the costliest hotel .was not chosen in the large cities,' let me 
refer to Bean, who is a crank on statistics, brought back 
all his bills, and spent a week in making additions and 
averages. The count showed that he had passed 61 nights 
in 46 hotels, — 5 in Italy, 10 in Switzerland. 6 in Spain, 6 in 
Germany, 5 in France, 3 in Holland and i in Belgium, — 
surely a representative list; 25 were the best hotels in the 



130 


GOING ABROAD? 


place, and the rest were as a rule smaller and quieter but not 
less comfortable than the costliest, and all were starred by 
Baedeker, who confers this honor on no hotels that are not 
clean and comfortable. All varieties of rooms were occupied, 
from the best in the house to rooms on the fourth floor, but 
the average was about what would be given to the careful 
traveler who seeks comfort and has no ambition to pay for 
elegance. 

The six Spanish hotels, in each case the best in the place, 
rendered the bills by the day, sho'wing an average charge of 
$2.48; fees took $0.17; total, $2.65. 

In the other countries itemized bills were the rule, and 
in Spain there were enough charges for parts of days to 
make possible an average by the item for all the 46 hotels 
used. The result was as follows: Room, $0.67; Cafe (Break- 
fast), $0.27; Dejeuner (Lunc'heon), $0.56; Table d’hote (Din- 
ner), $0.75; Fees, $0.15; totail, $2.40. Six of the hotels 
charged separately for service, but as this is properly part of 
cost of room, it has been treated as such. Nine made extra 
charge for lights, but as Bean carried his own candles, he 
had every such charge taken off the bill save in one place, 
where he had to pay a franc for having an electric light in 
hi's room whether he used it or not. He found out, how- 
ever, that the average cost for lights in these hotels was 
$0.09. The landlord occassionally tries to bleed the tourist 
by putting fresh candles in the room every day, even if those 
of the night before haven’t been burned a quarter of an 
inch, but usually if a candle lasts a week, the tourist pays for 
it only once. Though four-fifths of the hotels now make 
no separate charge for lights, it is still worth while carrying 
one’s own candle-stick, and Bean says he fears he might 
have been charged for candles more frequently if on en- 
gaging liis room he had not always asked whether lights 
were included in its price. 

The table d’hote (course 'dinner) was found in nearly all 
those hotels, but in 14 of them Bean ordered -a la carte, 
arriving too late for the regular dinner or preferring the 
quicker and lighter meal. The cost averaged 42 cents, but 
as two persons ate together they could combine their orders 


HOW TO STAY. 


131 


with an economy impossible to the solitary tourist, who could 
hardly dine alone in the Continental hotels, a la carte, for 
an average expenditure of less than 6o or 70 cents a meal. 

Another uncertain item of expense is that incurred for 
wine. Water is always obtainable; ice can frequently be had, 
but sometimes in Southern Europe there is an extra charge 
of three or four cents for a bowl of it. So far as Americans 
drink wine through fear of the water, their action is unrea- 
sonable, but of course if they drink it from preference, it is 
nobody’s business. If they are content to drink such wines 
as the well-to-do natives use at table, the cost need not 
average more than 20 cents a day, for a quart bottle will 
suffice one person three or four meals, provided the wine is 
diluted as the natives dilute it, and is used as a beverage, 
not as a stimulant. Bean once dwelt with a French family 
for several months, and never saw either host or hostess 
drink more than two glasses of mixed wine and water at any 
one repast. The dilution is not from motives of economy, 
but because it improves the ordinary wine of the country to 
put some water with it. Wine is never taken with the morn- 
ing meal, when the beverage is always coffee, tea, or choco- 
late. 

Dining and lunching at the cafes ordinarily frequented 
by tourists is less expensive than in the hotel restaurants. 
One must have a good knowledge of localities and language 
to live in restaurants as economically abroad as at home, 
with the same quality and quantity of food, but it can be 
done. 

In the cost of hotel living must be included the laundry 
bills, which of course vary much, according to the personal 
habits of the tourist. From 5 to 10 cents a day may be 
added to cover this. 

Bean concluded, then, that it is safe for a careful traveler 
to calculate on $2.50 a day as the cost of living in the or- 
dinary Continental hotels, without wine, or $2.70 with wine. 
(In a few hotels v\n ordinaire, the wine of the country, is 
served without extra charge.) There are many places where 
one can live cheaper, but this is the average that may be 
counted on by a tourist who covers a good deal of ground. 


GOING ABROAD? 


'^/le cost for husband and wife will be just double, for rooms 
are charged by the bed, assuming single beds, for that is the 
almost invariable practice of sleeping abroad. In some 
hotels a double bed can be easily had, but as a rule single 
beds are used. Whether a couple have a room with two 
single beds, or a room with a double bed, or two rooms with 
single beds, the cost will be the same. And by the way, 
where the stay will be long enough to make it worth while, 
a couple can get more comfort by securing two connecting 
single-bedded rooms, having both beds put in one room, 
and using the other for a sitting-room. But usually hotel 
chambers are so large that a double-bedded room (which 
means a room with two single beds) gives plenty of accom- 
modation. 

The tourist companies issue what they call hotel coupons, 
which are accepted by landlords of hotels of the first rank 
in about every European city. As a convenient way of 
paying hotel bills they have their merits, but economy is 
not the greatest of them, and it is not claimed. On the other 
hand, their use does not increase the expense of travel to any 
considerable degree. 

Cook asks $2.50 for coupons entitling the bearer to what 
we should call room, breakfast, luncheon, and dinner; Gaze 
asks $2.40 for the same thing, apparently because his list of 
hotels averages a shade below Cook’s list, though in fact 
many hotels accept either coupons. Gaze says that his have 
this value: Room, lights, and service, $0.70; plain breakfast 
(coffee and rolls), $0.30; dejeuner (luncheon), or meat break- 
fast, $0.60; table d’hote, $0.80. Fees are not included, and 
though some Americans using these coupons do not give 
fees, they are expected. 

It will be seen that this is in excess of what Bean 
averaged to pay, as follows: Room, 3 cents; cafe, 3 cents; 
dejeuner, 4 cents; table d’hote, 5 cents; total, 15 cents. Not 
very much, but amounting to something when three or four 
people are traveling for several months. Bean insists that 
he averaged to get better rooms than his friends who used 
coupons, but on the other hand they sometimes went to 
better hotels. It stands to reason that in spite of any agree- 


now TO STAY. 


i:^3 

ment to the contrary, landlords will give somewhat better 
treatment to the man who pays them cash than to him who 
gives them a coupon of the same nominal value, but on which 
they must allow the middleman a profit. 

It is a rare landlord who can afford to refuse the coupon 
arrangement, for the Cook and Gaze list of coupon hotels 
are much used by tourists who do not buy coupons, but feel 
sure that a coupon hotel will be respectable. So it is cheaper 
to use coupons than to pay cash at some of the high-priced 
hotels. Perhaps the thrifty traveler who does not object to 
dickering does best by carrying coupons with him and using 
them when he cannot make a better cash bargain. This 
should be determined in advance, however, and not delayed 
till the bill is presented, for commonly the landlord wants to 
know when you engage the rooms whether you mean to 
pay with coupon or cash, and if you wait till the bill is 
brought, you may have an unpleasant quarter of an hour 
and get your coupons refused or most disagreeably ac- 
cepted. 

Indeed, all hotel terms should be fixed before you take 
possession of the room. This comes hard to the American 
accustomed to demand of a hotel clerk the best room in -the 
house, without asking the price, but it is the only safe thing 
to do abroad. The portier expects it and does not make you 
feel cheap if you do it. Half the time if you follow up the 
first question with, ‘‘Haven’t you something cheaper?” you 
Yfill get just as good a room for less money. The price 
varies according to which floor the room is on, and to its 
exposure, there being slight difference in furnishings or size. 
When the stay is to be for a single night, the person who 
is in good health and whose purse is not bottomless, would 
be held foolish by some people if he declined to save a franc 
by walking up another flight of stairs. 

Here, as everywhere, don’t think that lavish expenditure 
does you any good abroad. The European views economy 
as the normal, natural, reasonable thing; he respects it and 
he aids it. While trying to make all they can out (of you, 
the people with whom you come in contact will do all they 


134 


GOING ABROAD? 


can to help you to save money, — a paradox that perhaps you 
will not believe till you have tried it. 

In Great Britain hotels are more costly than on the Con- 
tinent, by about a fifth. “Attendance” is' charged separately 
more frequently than on the Continent, and may cost half as 
much as the room, so that on inquiring the rcnom-charge at 
an English hotel, it will be well to find out about the “attend- 
ance” at the same time. Several palatial hotels rivalling those 
of New York in fittings and furnishings have been built in 
London of late years, and the rich American may there dis- 
port himself as luxuriously as he pleases. It is about as hard 
as ever, though, to find a table in London equal to that 
served in scores of hotels across the Channel. The odd thing 
about it is that th'e staff of the large English hotel is nearly 
all foreign-born. Somehow the French and Swiss and Ger- 
man hotel people lose their mastery of the gastronomic art 
when they get into the fogs of London. 

Many of the larger English hotels are owned by the rail- 
way companies and attached to their stations. This does not 
keep them from being clean and comparatively qUiet. They 
are often a convenience to the hasty traveler, and their prices 
are by no means excessive. On the other hand, the prices 
of the small hotels in London, at least, taking the accommo- 
dations and service into account, often seem most unreason- 
able to 'the tourist who has just come from the Continent. 

The “temperance” hotels in Great Britain are none the 
more and none the less comfortable because they do not sell 
liquor. The English bar-room lacks most of the offensive 
features that make the American bar-room a nuisance. The 
landlady or a trim barmaid tones it up somewhat, and at 
least in the towns it is a place for social intercourse rather 
than hilarious revelry. So the “temperance” feature of an 
Englis/h hotel is of slight significance. 

English hotel charges lead those of the Continent more in 
the matter of breakfast than in any other particular, being 
just* twice as large. In England breakfast is a hearty meal, 
more hearty, I think, than is usual even in the United States. 
If the traveler keeps up the practice after crossing the Chan- 
nel; if only to the extent of adding an egg or two to the 


HOW TO STAY. 


135 


coffee and roll, he will have to put fro'm 10 to 25 cents on the 
estimates of Continental expenses previously given. In Hol- 
land, however, he will find the British custom prevalent, and 
will pay for beginning the day with plenty of fuel. The 
Dutch hotels cost nearly as much as those of England, and in 
other ways living is more costly in Holland than elsewhere 
on the Continent. 

Italian hotels are the cheapest, and to live in them need 
not average to cost much over $2.25 a day, even when stops 
are made for but a single night. In the Ear East, from Cairo 
round to Athens, the expense will vary from $2.60 to $3.25 a 
day. 

About French hotels and their prices I have already said 
something in the chapter on Bicycle Tauring. It should be 
added that outside the big cities the portier is not a common 
functionary, the work of dealing with guests Being ordinarily 
in the hands of women, as in England. The portier is every- 
where on the main line of Continental tourist travel, but it is 
a singular fact that, though Paris is the social centre of the 
world, entertaining nearly a million visitors a year, other 
French places entertain comparatively few, and away from 
the Riviera there are almost no hotels where the polyglot 
porter is an essential. Do not 'expect, therefore, to find cos- 
mopolitan 'hotel features if you journey through the towns 
along the Loire or in Brittany. 

Murray summarizes the cost in Germany by saying that 
the full payment for a good front single room in a first-class 
hotel may be set down as 48 cents (the best room costing as 
high as S2.40, or even more); attendance, 16 cents; candle, 12 
cents; morning coffee, 28 cents; table d’hote at mid-day, 84 
cents, without wine: evening meals at discretion, a la carte; 
while at a humbler inn or in a country town, the room would 
probably cost 36 cents; attendance and candle, 12 cents; 
coffee, 16 cents; and table d'hote, 64 cents, including a small 
bottle of country wine. Until lately it has been the invariable 
custom in German hotels to have the heavy meal of the day 
at noon, and many a traveler has complained bitterly at the 
consequent waste of two or three hours of daylight, but now 
on the tracks well beaten by tourists, many hotels have the 


136 


GOING ABROAD? 


table d’hc>te at evening. As elsewhere, much better rates can 
be secured, in advance, if the traveler intends to stay several 
days. The law requires the hotel tariffs to be posted in every 
be-d-room, and furthermore tlie German inn-keepers occupy 
a higher social position than in most other countries, making 
them more trustworthy; therefore, it is not so important in 
Germany as elsewhere to ascertain all prices beforehand, but 
the careful tourist will do it nevertheless. To the American 
the most provoking feature of German domestic economy is 
the feather-bed, under which he is expected to sleep. Along 
the Rhine, where tourists are the mainstay of the hotels, he 
may not meet it, but let him get into the heart of Germany, 
into hotels patronized chiefly by Germans, and he will find 
plenty of chance to learn the art of sleeping under feathers. 
Usually, though, a counterpane or blankets can be had by 
ai)plying to the chambermaid. 

In Switzerland prices do not begin to attain the altitudes 
we expect in the hotels of any American mountain region. 
Computing large and small just as they come in the lisits pub- 
lished by the Association of Swiss Hotel Proprietors, it 
would appear that taking the country through the average 
daily charge ranges from $1.57 to $2.04, according to the 
room, for hotels that maintain the same price the year round. 
Very many of the resort hotels, however, either are open only 
in the summer or else raise their prices in the busiest season, 
for six or eight weeks in mid-summer, some beginning the 
higher rates July t, others July 15. At this time the average 
for large and small that raise rates ranges from $1.95 to $2.45 
a day, acco.rding to the room; for boarders, $1.30 to $2 a day, 
some hotels giving these rates to any one staying at least five 
days, others requiring a week. As a rule, the most expensive 
high altitude hotels are over lakes and the least expensive 
among the mountains and glaciers, away from the track of 
the diligence. Notwithstanding the difficulty of procuring 
provisions and the shortness of the season, the mountain 
house is enabled, by having practically no ground rent to 
pay, to charge less and yet make a reasonable profit. _ 

In selecting a hotel, it is always safe to rely on Baedeker. 
Any hotel he stars in his guide-book is sure to be good of its 


HOW TO STAY. 


137 


class, and the class is to be interred from the prices given. 
The man who need not study his expenditure, who can afford 
the best and wants it, can usually get it by going to the hotel 
starred first in a Baedeker list. Not always, however, for the 
great profit brought to a hotel in a frequented place by head- 
ing the Baedeker list is liable to spoil it by making its land- 
lord careless, indifferent, and even arrogant. Then when 
another edition ot the guide-book comes out, Baedeker, 
whose disinterestedness in the matter is unimpeachable, puts 
some other hotel first. Some people who like to travel by 
rule always go to the second or third hotel in the Baedeker 
list. Those to whom mild economy is an object, follow out 
with safety the plan of going to the first hotel listed as of the 
second class: it is reasonably sure to be satisfactory. Others 
get a landlord to recommend a hotel of the same grade in the 
next place on the route. Others keep a note-book and jot 
down information on this point that they get from fellow^- 
travelers. Of one thing you may be sure, — ^that the look of 
the hotel bus at the railway station is no safe guide. The 
paint on the omnibus is no criterion of the food on the table. 

'fhe very fact that a hotel is recommended by Baedeker, 
Cook or Gaze, is in one way an argument against it. for un- 
doubtedly you will learn more and probably you will enjoy 
more if you keep away from the stream of tourists. To ad- 
vise the novice to keep away from his countrymen, may seem 
unpatriotic, but it is common sense. ‘‘When at Rome, do as 
the Romans do,” is a maxim that has a depth of logic beneath 
it. If you believe in it, you will go to the hotel used by the 
well-to-do people of the country in which it may be, if you 
can learn which hotel that is, and not to the hotel where all 
the guests at table are of your own nationality, giving you no 
chance to improve your knowledge of the language, or to 
observe the manners and characteristics of the people. Yet It 
is dangerous to dogmatize, and there is something in the 
point that to meet your fellow-countrymen now and then is 
inspiriting, and that if you discriminate in your conversation, 
you can extract a good deal of useful travel-information from 
them. 

; . Likewise k must be admitted that the argument against 


138 


GOING ABROAD? 


going to the highest-priced hotels is not unimpeachable. The 
costliest is sure to be large, and to have a variety of rooms, 
many of them at prices no higher than those of the second- 
grade hotels. It is reasonably sure to be comfortable, while 
there is a chance that the low-grade hotel may not be all that 
could be desired. Some tourists argue that at the best hotel 
they always get the best company and the best table, but 
whatever certainty there may be about the company surely 
does not extend to the table, for as in our country elegance 
is often provided at the expense of the food. There is ground 
for the cynic’s assertion that the quality of the viands is in in- 
verse proportion to the size of the menu, for the more a chef 
scatters his energies, the less likely he is to triumph; the 
greater the variety of dishes in the kitchen, the less care can 
be given to each. Furthermore, though man does not live by 
bread alone, he surely can’t eat the china. 

Undoubtedly tc save 20 per cent, in hotel bills means in 
many cases a loss of 30 per cent, in comfort, but in my belief 
10 per cent, can be saved with no loss in comfort at all, for 
the costliest hotels charge about 10 per cent, extra for ele- 
gance, which adds nothing whatever to comfort, and even as 
luxury is of uncertain value. You see it is largely a matter of 
personal tastes. 

All through Europe the hotel books are kept by the num- 
bers of the rooms and not by the names of the guests. So it 
is necessary to fix in mind one’s room number at the start, if 
in a hotel of any size. In some countries the law requires 
landlords to get the name of a guest and other information 
about him immediately upon his arrival, to be reported to the 
police. Elsewhere one may register or not as he pleases, and 
usually he doesn’t please. 

It is the American custom to serve all three of the day’s 
meals in the same room, but that is not the general practice 
abroad. In England the breakfast is usually served in what 
is known as the coffee room; yooi may get the other meals 
there, or you may be sent to a “commercial room,” or there 
may be a dining room. In the Latin countries it is well-nigh 
the universal custom of the native-born to have the morning 
coffee and roll in their rooms, frequently taking them while 


HOW TO STAY. 


139 


yet a-bed. Away from the hotels frequented by foreigners 
one is likely to find the dining room in the morning not so 
attractive as a table on the terrace, in the summer time, at 
any rate. Awkward moments may be saved many a novice in 
travel if he is informed that ordinarily on entering a dining 
or coffee room one is expected to take any seat that suits his 
fancy. Occasionally a head waiter rushes forward to offer his 
services in getting seats, but the common thing is for the 
traveler to find his own. It is exceedingly bad form to be 
late at the table d’hote. 

Damage done to the furniture and other equipments of a 
hotel room is and should be at the cost of the guest. No 
honest traveler will evade payment for it, and his best course 
is to call the landlord’s attention to it as soon as practicable 
after the accident has happened. Otherwise he may have the 
harder time with an unscrupulous landlord who sees in it a 
chance for profit. Indeed, in some parts of Europe it is no 
uncommon thing foi'* landlords to reap a harvest by making 
successive guests pay damages for the same spot in the car- 
pet or the cracked bowl that has done yeoman service in this 
regard for a dozen years. Especially in Germany and Austria 
is it wise to take note of the condition of the furniture and 
other fittings of a room on entering it, and to call the atten- 
tion of the portier or waiter to anything amiss. The rule is 
that one must leave the room as he found it, and after all it is 
a just rule, even though some rascally hosts take advantage of 
its existence to defraud the unwary. 

The Association of Sw^iss Hotel Proprietors issues a hotel 
list, with a preface that presents the landlord’s view of some 
of these things in a way not often considered by the traveler.* 
It points out, for instance, that when 'one orders a roiom in 
advance by letter or telegraph, no certainty is given to the 
landlord that the bargain will be carried out, — a bargain, by 
the way, to which he has not consented to be a party. Who, 
indeed, will answer the conundrum as to which traveler has 
the greater claim for accommodations, the traveler that ar- 
rives early with his money in hand, or the unknown person 
that without offering surety announces still earlier by wire or 
post his intention to arrive late? 


140 


GOING ABROAD? 


It is also pointed out that the man who in advance orders 
a room to be ready for his arrival early in the morning may 
very justly be expected to pay for it as if he had used it all 
night, provided it had to be kept empty in order to be ready 
for him. In the same way he who departs late in the day may 
justly be asked to pay for that night if he has kei>t the land- 
lord from renting the room to some one else; but friction on 
this point can generally be saved by giving notice early in 
the day of intent to vacate the room, provided the notice is 
given to the right person, and is not in the nature o^ a casual 
remark to a waiter or a chambermaid. 

An inn-keeper is responsible at common law for the acts 
of his domestics, and for thefts, and is bound to take all due 
care day and night of the goods and baggage of his guests dc- 
l)osited in his house, or intrusted to the care of his family or 
servants. There remain few, if any, countries in the civilized 
world, however, where landlords have not been freed by 
statute from responsibility for' valuables not specifically en- 
trusted to them for safe keeping. Furthe’rmore, whether in 
the land of coirunon or the civil law, whether there are 
statiues on the subject or not, the tourist is at the disad- 
\antage of being among strangers, and, as a rule, of lacking 
the time foi legal processes. It is decidedly a case where dis- 
cretion is the better part of valor, and a fight is almost use- 
less. Should the occasion for it arise, better consult the near- 
est American consul. But the chance of the occasion is in 
fact very small. Thieving is not characteristic of hotel ser- 
vants in most parts of Europe, and, as a rule, one’s effects 
may be left in a hotel room with impunity. 

In Norway and Sweden scrupulous honesty is the rule, 
in small as well as large matters. One American, after get- 
ting home from there, was followed speedily by a letter from 
the keeper of the hotel at Christiania, where he stayed, enclos- 
ing a ten-krone note (about $2.50), and stating that the cham- 
bermaid had found it on the floor of one of the rooms occu- 
pied by the American’s family. 

Anywhere on the Continent report a birth or death at 
once to the nearest American consul. 


HOW TO STAY. 
IN PENSIONS^. 


141 


Pronounce it as a French word, pon-si-on, with as much 
of the nasal twang for the two n’s as you can muster; don’t 
accent the first syllable, but dwell a little on the last. It has 
nothing <to do with our word “penshun,” except philologi- 
cally. The American of it is “boarding-house.” Abroad it 
has gained almost as general use outside France as the 
French word “menu.” 

The line between hotels and pensions is very shady. In- 
deed, it is a frequent thing to find the “Hotel So-and-So’’ 
with a sub-title, “and Pension Such-and-Such.” This is 
merely open recognition of the system of payment practically 
in vogue at nearly all hotels, under which you pay a larger 
sum by the day for a short stay than for a long stay. But 
landlords vary in drawing the line; sometimes you can get 

0 

})cnsion rates if you stay more than three ckiys, sometimes it 
is five days, and occasionally a week is the limit. When ar- 
riving at a hotel, if you expect to stay several days, inquire 
about the pension rates in advance. 

Occaslionally, in the smaller cities, pensions pure and 
simple will take guests for but a single night; as a rule, how- 
ever, they expect their guests to stay a week or more, and in 
many Parisian pensions you will not get the lowest rates 
unless you stay a month or more. 

My bills for 157 days passed in eight pensions of France, 
Switzerland and Italy average $i..3S a day, with fees averaging 
5 cents a day, making a total cost of $1.40. When we paid 
for kerosene lamp in our room, it cost irs from 7 to 15 cents 
a day, but after we bought our own lamp and petroleum, the 
cost was trivial. By the way, the petroleum can be bought in 
bo-ttles at any grocery store, allowance being made for the 
bottle when returned, just as many American grocers are 
getting in the way of doing with cream. 

fire in the room in winter costs from 15 to 20 cents a 
day, but was not frequently needed, in Italy. 

As in other matters, the lowesJt rates are found in Italy, 
but Swiss prices are almost as low. There are many pen- 
sions in the Alps where one can live comfortably for a dollar 


142 


GOING ABROAD? 


a day it a stay of a week or more is promised, and a few as 
low as 90 or even 80 cents a day. Their beds and rooms are 
invariably clean, and the diet is wholesome, well cooked and 
well served. 

Good boarding-houses are not plentiful in Great Britain 
outside London, though there are some excellent ones in 
Oxford and a few other places, supported chiefly by the pat- 
ronage of American tourists. They are accustomed to fleet- 
ing guests, so that one need feel no embarrassment in apply- 
ing to them even if the stay is to be for but a night or two. 
In London those of the highest price are in the West End, 
but the mass of American boarders may be found in the 
neighborhood of -the British Museum, paying for the most 
part from $1.75 to $2 a day for accommodations of the better 
sort. This, too, is about what is common in Paris and the 
ho-tel pensions of other cities, though where there is no 
‘‘hotel” pretence $1.50 will command the best to be had in 
any provincial city or town. 

Of course, in fas'hionable pensions, such as those in the 
Parisian quarter about the Arc de Triomphe, one can easily 
find the chance to pay from $2.50 to $3 a day if he seeks it. 
My figures are about what is paid by people who know 'their 
Europe well or act on the advice <of people who know it. 
For no person who visits Europe from really valuable 
motives goes or will advise others to go to pensions wholly 
used by English-speaking people, unless it be in summer, 
when rest is of more consequence than study. In the first 
place, you can’t learn anything of a foreign language when 
your dinner companions insist on speaking your own lan- 
guage, or rather you can learn it only with far more difficulty. 
At table is the best place to practice a foreign language. 
Then, too, the Americans who live habitually in pensions fre- 
quented by their fellow-countrymen are, as a rule, noit people 
from whom you learn much or whose acquaintance is a source 
of much profit in any way. Of course, there are exceptions; 
often delightful friendships are made at the tables of foreign 
pensions or hotels, but seldom continued. 

The Women’s Rest Tour Association issues a list of 
boarding-houses and pensions that it recommends, but this is 


HOW TO STAY. 


143 


accessible only to members. The Teachers’ Guild of Great 
Britain and Ireland issues a similar list, covering not only 
Europe, but also the United States, Canada, Palestine and 
North Africa. Great care is taken to secure the accuracy of 
the particulars given, and they are checked and corrected 
every .year. Every address sent for insertion in the Guild 
Hand-book has to be accompanied by a letter of recommen- 
dation from a member of the Guild or from two persons who 
are not members. Anybody can obtain fhe list for a shilling 
from the General Secretary, at the office of the Guild, 74 
Gower St., W. C., London. No money is received from any 
one for inserting any addresses in it. 

An organization recently come into prominence is the 
International Union of Pensions, composed of betwe-en one 
and two hundred, scattered over the Continent and in Eng- 
land, so that nearly every place frequented by tourists has a 
member or two. It started in Germany, the Pension Inter- 
national at Heidelberg being the first to join, and I presume a 
letter addressed there would bring a membership list. The 
m-embers are required to maintain a certain standard of e-xcel- 
ince, or be liable to expulsion. The houses are favorites with 
women traveling singly or in parties, who find tliein more 
pleasant and home-like than hotels. 

Lacking information from any of these sources, ‘one 
who contemplates an extended stay in any atrange town 
abroad may usually get trustworthy advice by addressing a 
letter of inquiry to the Mayor of the place. An address thus 
secured is at least certain to be that of a respectable pension 
or private family. One’s banker, too, can usually make sug- 
gestions. It was a banker’s letter that opened the doors of 
one most excellent pension where the guests are supposed to 
be accepted only when bringing letters of introduction. In 
another instance, where we visited a certain small city for the 
chief purpose of a few weeks of study, we “fell on our feet’’ 
through asking advice of the local Delegate of the Touring- 
Club de France. In Paris one may consult the advertising 
columns of the Paris edition of the New York Herald, or if 
they announce nothing satisfactory, may get addresses in 
plenty by inserting a few lines. If he goes there for study, he 


144 


GOING ABROAD? 


may start for the Latin Quarter at once, and preferably in the 
region between the Luxembourg and the Boulevard Mont- 
parnasse can without much trouble find what he wants. A 
woman can there find accommodation at the American Girls’ 
Club or get on the track of it in the neighborhood. At the 
Club the price of a single room is $2 a week. There is a res- 
taurant attached where one pays for what she orders and can 
live at from 60 to 80 cents a day. In view of the purpose of 
the Club, to be of aid to students, of course the table is 
modest, expenses being kept as low as possible. The student 
of French can find good board in the cities of the Loire 
Valley, where the language is purest, and notably in Tours, 
for $7 or $8 a week. 

It is safer to make in writing agreements for long so- 
joums at pensions, and the same thing is true in the matter 
(.'f lodgings. .Sudden notice of intent to leave entitles the 
landlord to an indemnity in most foreign localities, and if 
stipulations on this point have not been definitely made in 
advance, you may find yourself arrested just as you are about 
to leave town. It is always well to ask the advice of the 
American consul before drawing up a document bearing on 
this matter or any other, as, if you have not taken this pre- 
caution, through some informality your agreement may prove 
worthless. D.o not infer that quarrels with your landlord 
are inevitable; but they are not unknown, and where any 
considerable amount of money is to be involved, it will be 
wise to be on the safe side. 

IN LODGINGS. 

In England, though in London at least there are many 
boarding-houses, it is more usual to live in “lodgings,” that 
is, more usual to hire a furnished room by itself than to in- 
clude the taking of meals at the common table. Frequently, 
liowever, you arrange to have part of your meals in the house, 
but served in your own room. In that case you may buy your 
own materials and pay for the cooking, or the landlady will 
buy what you direct and cook it for a slight charge. In a 
thoroughly convenient and respectable location in London, 


HOW TO STAY. 


US 


$7.50 a week would be a low price for a plainly furnished 
sitting-room and bedroom. Two of us paid $1.25 a day for 
such accommodations in the height of the season, close by 
Piccadilly, a most convenient location, but noisy. Meat 
breakfasts were served in our room for two shillings apiece. 
One can do better than that in the suburbs, but distances are 
long in London and it is economy to pay for a convenient 
location if time is any object Prices are lower in the smaller 
English places, and the landladies more endurable. (Those 
of London are often so bothersome that many Americans 
advise against taking lodgings there.) Figures from the ex- 
pense book of two American girls who took lodgings wher- 
ever they had addresses, show that in Lincoln for apartments 
in a delightfully quaint little house just outside the cathedral 
close, where the landlady and everything about the place were 
spotlessly clean, they paid $1.40 apiece for the night’s lodg- 
ing and three meels. Tn York they had lodging, supper and 
breakfast for a dollar apiece. At Oxford the same thing with 
a fine grate fire cost a dollar apiece. In Edinburgh they had 
lodging and breakfast for a week for $3.50 apiece. 

In London and the large cities it is the custom to go out 
for dinner. London restaurants are more costly than those of 
the same grade in the States, and so London is not the 
cheapest place in which to dine. To live in this way abroad 
is much simpler than at home, for restaurant life is so much 
ni'ore common. It has been said that a third of the people of 
Paris dine at cafes. Women seldom have any serious trouble 
in finding a restaurant where they can dine unmolested, and 
a great many of the art students abroad live in this fashion, 
often not spending a dollar a day for the whole cost of exist- 
ence. Furnished rooms, however, are not so easily to be 
found in Paris as in I.ondon, but they are there. Such a 
room in or about the Latin Quarter ought not to cost more 
than $10 or $15 a month. 

Wherever you take lodgings, wheth-er in London or on 
the Continent, be sure to learn the price of all the ‘‘extras” 
in advance. In Germany, indeed, it would not be amiss to 
learn how much butter will be served with your morning 
coffee. People in Europe do not “throw in” things. The 


146 


GOING ABROAD? 


smallest expenditures are discussed and determined with ex- 
actness. A fire costs in London all the way from 12 to 24 
cents a scuttle for the coal, kindlings usually extra; lights cost 
from 24 to 84 cents a week, unless you furnish your own lamp 
and candles. Baths are usually 12 cents. 

In an English town if you have the address of no house, 
it will be safe to inquire at the shop of a chemist, stationer, 
or pastry cook, for clean, respectable lodgings. While hunt- 
ing them up, your luggage may be checked at the station, to 
be sent for as soon as you have hired a room. 

The tourist in Great Britain who takes lodgings instead 
of going to hotels, who frequently stays more than a week in 
a place, and who exercises economy, can keep his or her 
average expenses inside two dollars a day. For three dollars 
many a luxury can be enjoyed. If, then, the voyage over and 
back should cost $120, a two months’ tour can be made for 
not far from $200; three months, not far from. $260. But a 
great deal more pleasure may be had by spending $250 on the 
two months’ tour, $300 on one of three months. Extending 
to the Continent means much more expense by reason of the 
car fares; distances in England are short. 

Tourists who have visited Russia will advise taking fur- 
nished apartments at St. Petersburg. 

HOUSEKEEPING. 

If a man tells you living is cheaper in Europe than 
America, ask him to prove it item by item. Don’t accept as 
proof his statement, doubtless true, that he has spent less in a 
year abroad than in a year at home. Make him go into 
details. If he kept house, did he have a bath-room, with hot 
and cold water? Was there a range in his kitchen? Was 
the house heated by hot air, hot water, or steam? If it was 
an apartment house, did it have an elevator? Were there set 
tubs in the laundry? 

Ten to one you will force him to confess that in these 
details and others he dfid not have in Europe the conveniences 
he thinks li^e cannot live without in America. Try him on the 
matter of food and he will admit that taking an average of all 


HOW TO STAY. 


147 


the raw materials he has bought, the European cost has not 
differed much from the American. Ask him about clothing 
and at last he will smile triumphantly and tell you how 
cheaply he bought a suit in London or gloves in Nappies, but 
do you demand, “How did they wear, and how did they fit?’’ 
Then he will evade again. 

The assertion that living abroad is cheaper than here, is a 
half-truth, deceptive and dangerous. Undoubtedly most 
Americans who go abroad live cheaper than at home, but the 
reason is simply that they are contented with less. From 
necessity or without unhappiness they dispense with many 
things that in America they deem indispensable either for 
bodily comfort or to maintain social position. In New York, 
Philadelphia or Boston they must dwell in the aristocratic 
quarter; in Paris or Berlin or Vienna it matters not where 
they dwell, sio long as the surroundings are not squalid. In 
Rome, even that matters little, and because it was otice a 
“Palace,” a dirty, crumbling tenement-house may without 
disgrace shelter an American family of high degree. ‘Tt’s so 
picturesque and so romantic, you know!” 

It is not to be denied that there are many compensating 
advantages, — 'the chance to study art, music, language; the 
neighborhood of fine galleries and museums; contact with an 
old-world life that sobers, refines and cultivates the some- 
v/hat rank and florid American spirit; freedom from irksome 
social duties and resporfsibilities; annihilatiion of the need of 
keeping up appearances, of trying to go the pace set by 
neighbors and friends with more money than Fortune has 
given you. 

Is this statement of the case not enough to show that 
accurate comparison of 'the cost of living abroad and at 
home is impossible? Yet if you still demand figures, I can 
give a few, thanks to William Henry Bishop’s book, ‘‘A 
House Hunter in Europe,” to Margaret B. Wright’s “Hired 
Furnished,” and to articles by other writers. 

IN FRANCE: Paris, in some regards the costliest city 
in the world, certainly is not such in the matter of rents in 
ordinary years, whatever it may be in an Exposition year. 
Statistics show the average rent paid by Parisian families to 


148 


GOING ABROAD? 


y 


be $80 a yeaf. Contrast this with Boston, where, according to 
the elaborate figures of the Mass. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
the average rent paid by peopk living in tenements is $17.26 
a month, or a trifle more than $200 a year. But undoubtedly 
there are many more of high-priced suites in Paris than in 
Boston in proportion to population, becau’se apartment life is 
so much more general. The inference may be that the 
Parisian masses pay far lower rents than those of an Ameri- 
can city, and that the well-to-do pay somewhat lower rents 
than ours. Unfurnished apartments are much cheaper than 
furnished, considering what you get. For example, an unfur- 
nished suite consisting of parlor, dining-room, bed-room and 
kitchen on the fifth floor cost Mr. Bishop, all told, about 
$180 a year. A suite up only one flight might have been had 
at the same cost, but it had no sun. In the suburbs he found 
apartments larger and not so high up, at corresponding 
prices, but with no great advantage over those in the city. 

Contrast this with the experience of another American, 
vv"ho taok a furnished flat in one of the aristocratic quarters: 
‘‘Three long flights of stairs had to be climbed, and when my 
apartments were reached there was a small hall, three cham- 
bers, also small, a salon, and a kitchen about 10 feet squre. 
The only water was in the kitchen. I had one fair-sized 
closet for clothes, but no cellar or store-room, or refrigerator; 
one servant’s room in the sixth story. The furniture was not 
very clean, but fairly comfortable: glass and china were of the 
most common quality. I was obliged to hire bed and table 
linen and silver. For this flat I had to pay $70 a month, one 
month’s rent in advance, and sign a lease that I would be re- 
sponsible for payment for three months. This was the cheap- 
est furnished apartment I saw, and people who reside in the 
city have told me it was a great bargain. When compared 
w*ith our apartments in America, supplied with bath-rooms, 
hot and cold water, steam heat, elevators, closets, and all 
modern (improvements, I think the balance is largely in our 
favor.” 

Americans are at first puzzled by the nomenclature in 
vogue here as elsewhere on the Continent, for what we call 
•the first floor, viz., the ground floor, is not there known as 


HOW TO STAY. 


149 


such. The French name for it is “rez-de-chaussee.” Above 
this may or may not come an intermediate floor known as the 
“entresol.” Then comes what they call the first story, corre- 
sponding to our third or second story, according as there is 
or is not an entresol. So when one is told that his friend 
dwells in the fourth story, he may expect to climb either four 
or five flights of stairs. Paris houses seldom exceed six 
stories and seldom have elevators. In our apartment houses 
without elevators every additional flight detracts from social 
prestige, but that view of it is of less consequence abroad, and 
one may approach the stars without losing prestige. In- 
deed, by reason of the want of light and of the humidity, the 
lower stories, especially the ground floors, are often rented 
at a lower price than the others. Even in buildings where the 
upper stories contain costly suites, the custom is to have 
shops of the most plebeian character on the ground floor. 

The usual Parisian servant for apartment work is called 
the “femme de menage.” She comes to do your day’s work, 
or any part of it you like, for about six cents an hour, and re- 
turns to her home to sleep. It is a recognized thing, like 
going to trade, or any other occupation. You do not have to 
provide a chamber for her, and if she comes for only a part 
of the day, you do not even have to feed her. If kept all the 
time, her wages would be $8 a month, which is, of course, 
much below American prices, but, on the other hand, one 
good servant in America does about as much as two or three 
abroad, partly by leason of the fact that American homes are 
l)etter arranged for housekeeping. There is no chance in 
Parisian suites for washing or drying clothes, and the laun- 
dering charges add to the servant expense. 

Good beef, mutton or veal costs about 22 cents a pound; 
choice filet or tenderloin twice that. Butter is 40 cents a 
pound, but iit is fresh and delicious. Eggs are three cents 
apiece at their dearest, every one perfect. Poultry is dear, but 
you have some good substitutes for it, such as rabbit and hare. 
Fruit is plentiful and cheap. Salads and green vegetables 
generally, owing to the milder climate, are much longer in 
season and always cheaper. Milk is six cents a litre, — a little 
more than a quart, but it is always thin. Ice is almost un- 


150 


GOING ABROAD? 


j 


known, but you get along very easily without it. Having no 
refrigerator, you buy in smaller quantities, a distinct advan- 
tage for small families, because, as a consequence, the meats 
are cut differently, and everything else is adapted to this sys- 
tem. “You can buy excellent, juicy roast beef to the value of 
a franc and a half (30 cents), if you like, whereas the very 
smallest piece two people could buy at home, without being 
ridiculous, would have to keep reappearing in various forms 
for sevenal days. ’ Coal is $ii a ton for the kind used in 
ranges and stoves; for the few furnaces, about a dollar less. 
Gas is more expensive than in our country, and inferior in 
quality. 

At Pau in a short promenade Mr. Bishop found three 
lodgements, any one of which would have done. The price 
of the largest, with several more bed-rooms than needed by a 
couple, was $160 a year. Another, a first story, in the house 
of a respectable official, consisting of ante-chamber, kitchen, 
dining-room, parlor, two bed-rooms, and servant’s bed-raom, 
was but $110. 

In Blok, one house, fourteen rooms, with a garden, was 
about $240; another was $140, had three stories and a sunny 
terrace. 

IN SPAIN: An apartment of eleven rooms, up two 

flights, was offered to Mr. Bishop in Granada for $145 a year. 
The dearest apartment he saw in Seville would have been 
$225. Summing up Spain, he says: “In a general way you 

may count on having a highly presentable apartment for $400, 
— this in the large, expensive cities, including Madrid. Per- 
haps even one of the famous houses of Seville with patio, or 
half- Moorish court-yard, could be had for that — if one of 
them could ever be found vacant. The cosjt of provisions 
cannot vary greatly from what it is in France. In servant’.s 
wages there is a notable reduction. You can have an ex- 
cellent cook for $7 (a month), and a maid-of-all-work for 
$3 or $4.” 

IN ITALY: At Villefranche, on the Riviera, Mr. B'khop 
spent a year in a large villa, with ten or a dozen rooms, in the 
centre of an estate in which he had the right to promenade. 


HOW TO STAY. 151 

with oranges, lemons, roses and lovely views, for which the 
rent was $120 a year. 

His experience in house hunting at Rome was distressing. 
Some of the prices were: An apartment on the Pincian Hill 
at $900 a year; another at $430; a second-story apartment in 
the Palazzo Odescalchi at $1,000; in a modern building on the 
Forum of Trajan, eight rooms in the third story at $180; near 
St. Peter’s, six rooms in the fifth stc«-y at $216; for a 12-ro'om 
apartment in the freshly built quarters, $600. 

Florence is cheaper than Rome. “To sum up, a fairish 
apartment would cost from $240 to $360 a year, a figure for 
which you could make yourself very much more comfortable 
in or about Nice.” 

The best of his bargains was at Verona, where he passed 
six months in a house of which the rent was $72 a year. “A 
grand apartment, with frescoes in the style of the old masters, 
could be had, down in a wing of the Giusfi palace, if one pre- 
ferred, for about $240 a year. For w^hat would be a very mod- 
est scale of expense in America, one could here keep horses 
and live like a sort of Sardanapalus.” 

The chief defect in the experiment, says Mr. Bishop, is 
that “your cheap habitation, no matter how excellent, artistic, 
and original in itself, must always thrjow you into pretty close 

relations with persons quite able to pay the same low rents, 

« 

who will have very different ways of living, and these will be 
very likely to bring your owm to naught.” 

Venice has perhaps fewest chances of any of the cities 
Mr. Bishop tried. “Apart from 4 he liberal proviision of dear 
furnished lodgings for the strangers who come to pass a 
m.onth or two in the spring and autumn, there is very little to 
chcyose from.” The most reasonable thing was an apartment 
of five rooms for $320. Three of the rooms were each about 
36 X 21. It looked on the Grand Canal. A small single 
house, not far from the Grand Canal, but absolutely without 
modern improvements, had half a dozen rooms, three stories, 
and cost $96 a year. Theodore Purdy says that for furnished 
apartments comprising nearly all of a small palace on the 
Grand Canal he paid $44 a month. His dining room was the 
large ball-room, possibly 60 feet long, and besides this he had 


152 


GOING ABROAD? 


J 


seven rooms, fully furnished including linen and a solid silver 
service. The man who served as gondolier and butler cost 72 
cents a day; the maid-of-all-work, 18 cents. “Our living ex- 
penses, including rent, food, wages of two servants, gondola 
and small extras, such as fees, fruits, a profusion of plants 
and flowers, excursions, wines, papers and books, for a party 
of six persons, came to a total of one dollar and a half a day, 
each. This is not the smallest amount for which one could 
keep house in Venice, for we occupied rather expensive quar- 
ters, and we had a private gondola at our door and many 
ether unnecessary luxuries.” 

IN GERMANY: Philip G. Hubert, Jr., in describing 

his experience in seeking furnished apartments in Munich and 
Dresden, says that after hunting all day in vain in Munich he 
did what all Americans should begin by doing, i. e., call on 
the American consul for help. The consul took him to a 
house-agent and also suggested advertising. He found that 
advertising is the quickest and virtually the only way of get- 
ting what one wants, for as nobody makes a regular business 
of furnishing apartments for rental, and the real-estate agent 
is almost unknown, there is no regular market or exchange 
for apartments. But in every large city there are people who 
for one reason or another want to get away and have apart- 
ments on their hands. A short advertisement setting forth 

• 

exactly what you need, the number of rooms, quarter of the 
city, and length of time required, is pretty sure to bring 
scores of answers. Have the advertisement written by a 
German, and the answers, with the price demanded, sent to 
the newspaper ofllce. If any strange turn or expression be- 
trays the foreigner, the price will rise; If no price is men- 
tioned in some answers that promise well, get a German ac- 
quaintance to call and find out the price before making your 
appearance on the scene. Finally, when you have found an 
apartment that suits you as to position, character, and price, 
consult some resident of the city concerning it; in this way 
you may avoid settling in an inconvenient part of the city, or 
in some quarter expotsed to nuisances of which no stranger 
would suspect the existence. There are parts of Munich and 
Dresden so inaccessible from the shopping quarters, the 


HOW TO STAY. 


153 


opera, and the picture galleries, and so poorly served by the 
cars, as to make tliem out of the question for Americans; 
and yet they are among the prettiest quarters of both cities. 
A resident will give advice on these po>ints. He will also tell 
you that new buildings are to be av'’oided in Munich, for they 
are so solidly built, and so thickly covered with tons of mor- 
tar put on t)o imitate stone, that they require, in so damp and 
cold a climate, more than a year to dry. New houses are 
rented at a discount for the first year t)r two, the tenants 
taking the risk of sickness. 

Mr. Hubert ended his Munich house-hunting by taking a 
small apartment, three flights up, consisting of parlor, dining- 
room, kitchen, two good-sized bed-rooms, and one very small 
one. All the rooms were bright and sunny. The building 
was of a good class in a quiet street. The furniture was of an 
excellent character, and everything excepting silver, but iii- 
cluding linen, was supplied. For this apartment he paid 80 
marks a month for six months, a trifle less than $20 a month. 
It must be said, however, that he was particularly fortunate. 
The owner or tenant, a lady, who answered his advertisement, 
had to leave Munich for the summer on account of sickness 
in her family, and sublet the apartment rather than leave it 
empty. Other apartments he saw of about the same charac- 
ter were nearly twice the rent, and he would say that the 
avrage rent of such an apartment in Munich would be about 
150 marks a month. The regular rent of the apartment he 
had, unfurnished, was $200 a year. He had paid $600 a year 
in New York for an unfurnished flat in no way superior to 
this one. 

Domestic servants ask in Munich about half the wages 
the same girls would receive in New York, once they are able 
to speak a few words ot English. A very good cook is well 
paid with $8 a month, and expects to have only two evenings 
a month to herself for outing purposes. A good chamber- 
maid or waitress seldom receives more than $6 a month. If 
one will consent to take girls fresh from the country, wages 
are lower, but foreigners have to employ maids familiar with 
city ways, and a cook competent to do the marketing and 
wrangle with the janitor, who, in Munich as in New York, is 


154 


GOING ABROAD? 


a great personage, counting for much in the welfare of a 
tenant. ^ Personal service of every kind costs in about the 
same proportion. Many families in Munich, perhaps most of 
the well-to-do people, have their washing done outside of 
their apartments, and it is therefore cheap. The weekly cost 
for four pers'ons was never more than a dollar, including a 
gratuity of lo pfennigs,- or two cents and a half, to the pretty 
peasant girl who came for it weekly, and with the help of a 
little hand-cart and a big dog carried it no one knows how 
many miles into the suburbs. Personal service of any kind is 
rewarded with a few pfennigs. The man who brings the coal 
and wood, the boy or girl who brings a parcel from a 
shop, the grocer-boy, etc., all expect a small tip, but 
it is so small as not to be worth considering in making up the 
cost of housekeeping. Ten pfennigs seem to go as far as 25 
cents in New York for similar purposes. 

Meat seems to be dear all over Germany, and not so good 
as at home. To its high cost, and the absence of refrigerators 
and ice, is due probably the habit of relying largely upon 
the delicatessen shops, where the German housewife buys 
daily just enough roast meat, sausage or ham to suffice for 
dinner. Vegetables are remarkably cheap. The ordinary price 
of soup-greens for a family — onions, carrots, celery-root, and 
parsley — is only five pfennigs (one cent and a quarter). Ex- 
cellent lettuce costs from three to five pfennigs a head; spin- 
ach is about one-quarter the price it is in New York; potatoes 
are four pfennigs a pound; apples are ten pfennigs a pound. 
Bread and milk cost about the same in Munich as in New 
York, but both are always excellent, the authorities keeping a 
sharp eye upon the dairies and milk-dealers. Tea, coffee and 
sugar cost about the samie as at home, but fancy groceries, 
such as crackers, or biscuits, as the English call them, jellies 
and marmalade, not being in common use, are very dear. 
P'or instance, Scotch orange marmalade that we buy for 17 
cents in New York, costs just double in Munich and Dres- 
den. Coal and wood for the porcelain stoves to be found in 
every German room, cost a trifle less than at home. 

In Germany a tenant gives his landlord six months’ 
notice of his intention to leave; and no unfurnished apart- 


HOW TO STAY. 


155 


men't is rented for less than a year; so that, althoug'h many 
houses have bills on them, these refer to apartments that will 
be vacant five or six months later, or even a year later. It is 
not worth while to try to find a decent apartment for less 
than six months. Whenever one asks the price of an apart- 
ment for three months he finds that the sum named is very 
little, if any, below what would be asked for six months. 
Germans cannot understand people who want to move every 
three months. 

As for Germany, take the testimony of still another corre- 
spondent, writing from Heidelberg to correct the impression 
prevalent in the United States that rent and living are cheap 
in the Fatherland. ‘Taking into account the antiquated con- 
struction and absence of all modern conveniences in their 
houses, the rent is very dear. The older houses seem to be 
built almost square — about 25 feet in width and depth. Each 
floor has its one flat, with many windows upon the street and 
rear. The buildings are generous also with their stairways. 
Our house has three flats. Each contains a large parlor, bed- 
room on each side, a small dining-room and kitchen, but no 
bath-room or cloihes closets. They are heated by two porce- 
lain stoves. The ceilings are high, the floors painted and 
walls covered with inexpensive paper. The top or third flat 
rents for $20 a month, the second for $30 and the ground floor 
for $50. In this house a retired army offlcer lives on the third 
floor, a Heidelberg professor on the second, and the ground 
floor is divided into two small shops, one for the sale of small 
notions and the other for cigars. Handsome furniture, lace 
curtains, statuary, books, pictures and bric-a-brac give a gen- 
teel appearance to the apartments, but a clerk on $1200 a year 
in Chicago would not think of living in a flat of such primi- 
tive sanitary appliances. 

‘‘As for the cost of living, that is even dearer. Perhaps 
Heidelberg, oeing an educational town, should not b»e taken 
as a criterion for smaller places. A visit to the public market 
shows that, although the greatest care is taken in preparing 
the produce to prevent loss to the consumer, prices are higher 
than in America. Soup beef costs 20 cents a pound, veal 
cutlets 8 cents each, mutton chops 28 cents a pound, kidney 


156 


GOING ABROAD? 


roast 30 cents, pork chops 20 cents, boiled ham 50 cents, beef- 
steak 59 cents. Geese are from 75 cents to $1.50 apiece, ducks 
as dear as in America, turkey (rare) $1.50 to $2 each, pigeons 
very much in demand at 50 cents to 60 cents a pair, young 
chickens 50 to 75 cents apiece, wild hare, about as large as 
jack rabbits, 75 to 90 cents apiece.” 

It may not be amiss to inform persons planning residence 
in Germany that if they live in houses or flats they have fur- 
nished, they are subject to the German income and other 
taxes after a sojourn of one year. The fact that they are pay- 
ing taxes elsewhere would not exempt them from those 
levied there. 

IN ENGLAND. “Housekeeping in London,” says 
Margaret B. Wright, “is no dearer than in American cities, 
perhaps a trifle less. Ordinary provisions, such as meat, fish 
and winter vegetables, are about Boston prices; the greater 
cost of fruits, summer vegetables and rarer provisions is 
equalized by the cheaper rents and labor wage. Gas and coal 
are cheaper than in America, at least in New England; very 
many wealthy English women absolutely refuse to keep 
warm when coals rise to $5 a ton. Country housekeeping 
is cheaper than in our own country. Rents are excessively 
low compared with ours. Except in the height of the season 
furnished country cottages are easy to find at an even ab- 
surdly low rent, for t'he dampness of England is an enemy 
to unoccupied houses.” She gives instances of such hirings 
at prices running from $1.50 to $5 a week, for any time from 
a week up. Her advice to anyone wanting to dwell in rural 
England after this delighful fashion is to make choice of a 
locality and then advertise in a local paper, being sure not 
to give an American address, but to have letters forwarded. 
The big dailies do just as well, although more expensive, 
and they do not forward letters. When you hire, take extra 
towels and table cloths. 

Mr. Bishop thinks that in London, Oxford or other 
English cities, it would be safe to count on a rent of about 
$300 a year. He says a maid servant would cost from $60 to 
$100 a year, but another writer declares that “one is obliged 
to keep more servants than in America, the work being so 


HOW TO STAY: 


157 


divided that a servant will refuse to do certain duties on the 
plea that ‘it is not my place, mum.’ The wages of servants, 
like every other expenditure in England, are deceptive to 
the uninitiated. The nominal amount seems small, but the 
little charges add up like extras in a hotel bill. One terrible 
i'tem in the housekeeping expense is the washing, every bit 
of which is sent out of the house. The servants’ washing 
IS paid for by the mistress. The weekly washing bills of a 
moderate establishment generally amount to more than the 
weekly wages of a good servant in America, who would not 
only do the family washing, but cook as well.” Another 
authority suggests that taxes must be taken into account 
and may amount to a quarter of the rent. 

In conclusion, — and it applies to the Continent as well 
as to England, — ^too many hopes should not be built on 
some of the figures that have been given. Mr. Bishop admits 
that some of his have already passed into history, for rents 
are rising. Furthermore, a great deal depends on the point 
of view. Apartments or a house thatjpwould satisfy one 
American might seem despicable to another. I find Mr. 
Hubert averring that a mark, or 24 cents, will go almost as 
far in Munich as a dollar in New York, and I find the next 
writer declaring that “as far as casual observation goes, 
nothing in Germany is cheaper than in America, except w»ine, 
cigars, beer and music.” Algernon Dougherty, who has 
rounded out a quarter of a century in American legations 
from Mexico to Rome, concludes that as Mark Twain dis- 
covered, the cheapest city in Europe is Vienna, next to 
which he puts Brussels, then Paris, then London, and he de- 
clares Madrid the dearest.. On the other hand a medical 
friend who has studied long in Vienna asserts to me that it 
is by no means the cheapest of European capitals. He points 
out that where the unit of value is higher, living is costlier, 
and says that many things which cost a mark (24 cents) in 
Germany cost a gulden (40 cents) in Austria. 

From all these conflicting views my own conclusion is 
the notion with which T began this section, that quality for 
quality, living is as dear abroad as at home, and that where 
in the aggregate it costs less, one gets less, though the de- 


GOING ABROAD? 


158 

ficiency is for the time being more than made up by many 
compensating pleasures and benefits. 

STUDY IN THE UNIVERSITIES. 

Th'C chances for study abroad are so numerous and 
varied that it would involve me in an Herculean task to try 
to consider them all. A few random notes, however, may 
perhaps be well added to the general observation that access 
to the Universities is easy and cheap, often costless. 

For the English universities the system at Oxford may 
be taken as typical. To matriculate there, i. e., become a 
member of the University, it is necessary to be admitted into 
one of the Colleges or Flails, or into the body called Non- 
Collegiate Students; a candidate may be admitted into a 
College as a scholar, or as an exhibitioner, or as a com- 
moner. Scholarships and exhibitions are nearly all awarded 
according to the results of competitive examinations, held 
by the respective Colleges. Most of the scholarships are 
now open for the c^ipetition of youths under nineteen, and 
are chiefly of the value of $400 a year for practically four 
years. Some of the exhibitions are hardly distinguishable 
in any important respect from open scholarships. ‘To be 
admitted into a College as a commoner, or to become a 
member of a Hall, or a non-collegiate student, it is neces- 
sary to pass an examinatiion held by the College or Hall, or 
by the delegates of non-collegiate students, or to have passed 
some test accepted in lieu of this examination. When once a 
member of the University, a man must pass certain other 
University exanninations before obtaining a degree. There 
are two sets of examinations, — a difflcult one for those who 
seek “honors,” and an easy one for those who are content 
with an ordinary “pass.” The degree of Bachelor of Arts 
cannot be obtained in less than two years and eight months 
from matriculation, nor without residing in Oxford for 
twelve terms. Passmen may complete their academical 
course in three years; full honors men take four years. For 
the higher degrees of Civil Law, Medicine, and Divinity, no 
more residence is necessary, but further requirements have 
to be satisfied. For the M. A. degree the only requirement 


HOW TO STAY. 


*59 


is that the candidate shall have had his name on the books 
for twenty-six terms since his matriculation. The bulk of 
the instruction is given by college tutors and lecturers under 
a system that allows members of one College to attend lec- 
tures given in the others. 

Four halls are now established at Oxford for the higher 
education of women; the members are admitted to the 
College lectures. Neither Oxford nor Cambridge yet gives 
women degrees, but in other respects they enjoy practically 
the same educational advantages that the men enjoy. From 
‘*A Summer in England” I glean these facts about the con- 
ditions of work there: — 

Any woman wishing to reside at Oxford for purposes 
of study should write, in the first instance, to Mrs. Arthur 
Johnson, 8 Merton Street, Oxford, one of the Secretaries of 
the Association for the Education of Women in Oxford, who 
will give full information. The fees, including board and 
tuition, may be roughly estimated at from $125 to $145 a 
term, and there are three terms, each of eight weeks, begin- 
ning about Jan. 20, April 20, and Oct. 15. Graduates of 
colleges included in the Association of College Alumnae, U. 
S. A., are admitted to the examinations without preliminary 
tests. Students wishing to reside for study at Cambridge 
should write to the Principal of Girton College, or the 
Principal of Newnham College. Information about the 
London University can be obtained from the Registrar, Lon- 
don University, Burlington Gardens, London. 

At both Oxford and Cambridge chance is offered in 
August for students to reside in university towns and avail 
themselves of the advantages furnished there by laboratories, 
lectures and libraries. Work is done in the chemical labora- 
tories, and there are numerous courses of lectures on his- 
tory, literature and art. These privileges are primarily 
meant to supplement the course of local lectures carried on 
in connection with the University Extension, and in order 
to share them American women should write to Arthur 
Berry, Esq., Syndicate Building, Cambridge, or Secretary, 
University Extension, Oxford. At Cambridge one guinea 
covers the expense of the course; board and lodging may 


i6o 


GOING ABROAD? 


be had by some students at Newnham College for 25 shillings 
a week. At Oxford, the ‘‘Summer Meeting of University 
Extension Students” is limited to a thousand persons, prefer- 
ence being given to those who have previously attended 
Extension courses. Tickets for the month (August) cost 
30 shillings; for the first ten days only, one pound. Visits 
are paid to the Colleges and University buildings under the 
guidance of residents, who give lectures on the history or 
architecture of the places visited. 

The committee of the Edinburgh Summer Meeting offers 
Vacation Science Courses through August. A ticket admit- 
ting to them all costs three guineas. Much of the work is 
in the open air; old Edinburgh is studied; the Botanic Gar- 
den and seashore are visited. Women wishing to go into 
residence there may address Housekeeper, University Hall, 
Ramsay Lodge, Edinburgh, or for general information in 
regard to classes, etc., Ricardo Stephens, M. B., University 
Hall, 4 Ramsay Garden, Edinburgh. 

The German universities most in favor with Americans 
have long been Heidelberg and Bonn; apart from the in- 
struction, they attract by reason of their locations and sur- 
roundings, particularly in the warmer months. Goettingen 
has always had a large number of faithful devotees; and both 
intellectually and from the point of view of its interesting 
situation, in a little Hanoverian peasant village, it un- 
doubtedly has much to commend it. As winter resorts, 
Berlin, Leipsic, and Munich are in favor. Berlin, since it has 
become the capital of the United German States, has drawn 
to it the greatest scholars in the German scientific world, 
and spends a large sum of money to maintain a famous corps 
of instructors. Its libraries are the most extensive in the 
country. The city is much pleasanter in summer than in 
winter, but it is hard to find any place in Germany that one 
can really recommend as a winter resort. Of the fifteen other 
German universities there are none exceptionally woi^bh con- 
sideration by the American, though often a famous instructor 
at some of the smaller institutions draws students from afar. 
Not many Americans would care to go 'north of Berlin, 
that is, to Kiel, Greifswald, Rostock, or Koenigsberg. Some 


HOW TO STAY. 


i6i 


might stop at Breslau, Marburg, or Erlangen. There are 
always a few Americans at Halle, Jena, Strasburg, and Frei- 
burg. 

In Germany the winter semester or term begins about 
the first of October and continues into March; the summer 
semester begins late in April and ends early in August. For 
the student to matriculate or register costs only $5, and after 
that -be is left to work out his own salvation. There is no 
compulsory attendance at lectures, no discipline, nothing 
like the Amer*ican college recitation system. The -tests come 
at the end of the course, when the student seeks his degree. 
Then he must prove a thorough knowledge 'of some depart- 
ment of knowledge within the range of academic instruction, 
write a thesis that shall be a contribution to science, pass a 
rigid oral examination, and pay $75. The fulfilling of these 
conditions means to the average graduate of an American 
college two years of hard work. Meantime his fees will not 
have amounted to more than $20 or $25 for each half year. 

In the German universities women have not till recently 
been allowed to matriculate or take degrees, but of late years 
they have been permitted to attend the lectures. At Leipsic 
the laws of Saxony pre\^ent the recognition of women, and 
they attend as guests of the professor. At Heiidelberg they 
are required to present the diploma of some college or uni- 
versity. In France the degrees are open to women as well 
as men. 

In Paris many of the lectures at the Sorbonne and the 
College of France are open to the public, and often a ma- 
jority of the audience is above the student age. Many Eng- 
lish-speaking people frequent these lectures to cultivate the 
ear by listening to scholarly French. Formal application 
and registration will usually secure entrance to the ‘‘closed 
courses.” There are two terms, one beginning in the early 
winter and lasting into Lent; the other beginning soion after 
Easter and ending in the early summer. 

A recent reform has opened the French faculties of 
science to foreigners on very advantageous conditions. 
American students have hitherto frequented Germany almost 
exclusively because of the liberty the universities of that 


i 62 


GOING ABROAD? 


country offer in the choice of studies, in permitting a change 
of university, and in requiring no examinations excepting 
when the student applies for a degree. Hereafter in France 
a student will be admitted on an /American bachelor's degree, 
and will be permitted t'o choose his studies. After pursuing 
any scientific course a year, he can, if he wishes, apply for 
an examination in this branch, and, if successful, obtain a 
certificat d’ etude. Three such certificates, taken, say, in cal- 
culus, pure mechanics, and astronomy, will make him a 
licencie, and upon the presentation of a satisfactory thesis, he 
can then secure the French docto-rate, which is decidedly 
superior to the German. If the student has the ability and so 
desires, he can discharge all three subjects the same year; 
or, if he prefers, he can do it in successive years, migratting, 
if he wishes, from one university to another, and studying 
at the same time whatever other subjects he may choose. 

The French system has one distinct advantage over that 
of Germany, because in Germany the student presents his 
Ihesis first, and if this is accepted, he is admitted to exami- 
nation. Everything hangs on one chance. He receives the 
doctorate or nothing. In France, on the contrary, the ex- 
aminations coming first, each step is marked, the student 
receiving independent credits for every part of his work. 
If he acquits himself in one branch only, he still has his 
certificat, and three branches give him the licence. If inter- 
rupted in his work before securing a degree, he can with- 
draw with honorable credentials for at least that part of the 
work he has accomplished. 

Students of medicine throng to Vienna more than to any 
other European city, because it has the largest hospital, the 
most celebrated professor's, and the best chances for instruc- 
tion. Each professor can take only a limited number of stti- 
dents, and the time of the more famous is so much in demand 
that places in their classes must be engaged long ahead. Ihe 
courses run from four to six weeks and cost from $io to $15 
each. The most ardent students carry on a dozen or more 
courses at a time. Without a knowledge of German at the 
start, it would be foolish for an American to go to Vienna 
unless he can stay there at least a year, for it will take him 


HOW TO STAY. 


163 


half that time to acquire enough command of the language to 
profit by the courses. He would better go to New York, 
where today the instruction is just as valuable to all intents 
and purposes, save in the matter of the prestige given by the 
reputation of having worked in the foreign hospitals. To 
study a year in Vienna is likely to cost about the same as a 
year at Harvard, — perhaps $700 being the average expend- 
iture by the economical. Munich is cheaper and the instruc- 
tion is excellent, though not so varied as in Vienna. At 
Munich the American shows his diploma, matriculates on 
payment of a small fee, and then gets the clinics without 
charge. At Paris the student can see but not participate. 
Dublin is the favorite place for lying-in work. Zurich is the 
only place where women can take the courses. The medical 
student going abroad should take with him a few of the 
leading standard books in English; if he is a specialist, he 
should take with him the works on his specialty. 

L.\NGUAGE STUDY. 

The large cities are not the best places for either children 
or adults to acquire the languages. There are too many 
chances to lapse into English, and furthermore slang, 
“argot,” flourishes most in the rank city soil. In France, for 
instance, the purest French is found in Tours, not in Paris; 
the best Italian is heard in Siena, not in Rome. German is 
well learned at any of the university towns, but whether it is 
better to learn the accent of northern or of southern Germany 
is an open question. The people of Berlin and those of 
Munich accuse each other of talking provincial German. 
Likewise in Spain you wdll find the Spanish of Madrid differ- 
ing much from that of Seville and Cadiz. There is more of 
the lisp in Madrid, and in Seville the speedh is nearer that 
of the Spanish in Central and South America. In Italy there 
is even more variation in dialect. A Neapolitan can wdth 
difficulty understand a Venetian speaking rapidly, and the 
Roman use of the tongue is like neither Neapolitan nor 
Venetian. 

For purposes of general language study, wdiere unusual 
achievement in any one is not contemplated, perhaps Geneva 


164 


GOING ABROAD? 


is the best place on the Continent. As the three languagfcs, 
French, German, and Italian, are spoken in the three regions 
of Switzerland, good teachers of any 'or all of them are 
readily found at Geneva. It is a Puritanical sort of place, 
where a young person would have to work hard to get out 
of the paths of rectitude; and there is nothing frivolous about 
the city of Joihn Calvin; but that makes it all the more at- 
tractive to the studious and the sedate. Its surroundings 
are charming, giving plenty of chance for delightful rambles 
and excursions. At Lausanne, half way along the lake, 
Gibbon found the best place to finisih his immortal work. 

Any one desiring to master French in order to teach it, 
will do best at Paris, where the Sorbonne gives during the 
winter and spring the best chance for scientific study of the 
language. In the summer an admirable opportunity is fur- 
nished by the vacation courses of “L'Alliance Francaise,” 
the strong society for propagating the French language. 
The attendance has grown in five years from 50 to 500, and 
no better testimony of the work of the institution could be 
cited. The courses are planned for the benefit of foreigners 
of any nationality or age and of either sex. They are given 
in the amphitheatre of the Colonial School on the Avenue 
de r Observatoire, — ^in what might be called a collegiate 
neighbor*hood, not the old Latin Quarter, but close by, — 
where pensions and furnished apartments of moderate price 
abound. 

There are two series of courses, one occupying July and 
the other August. A course consists of from five to ten 
lessons in charge of some eminent French professor. Typical 
subjects in 1899 were — Historical and Comparative Gram- 
mar of Modern French; French Literature of the 17th Cen- 
tury; tfhe Institutions of France; Elocution and Pronuncia- 
tion. Then there are conferences devoted to the practice of 
conversation or phonetic exercises. At the end of each 
month examinations may be taken for diplomas, — an ele- 
mentary diploma for candidates who prove that they under- 
stand, read and write the language fluently, a superior 
diploma for those who prove themselves capable of teaching 
the language and its literature. 


HOW TO STAY. 


1(^5 

All told about 150 lessons and 24 conferences are open 
in the course of the two months to holders of season tickets, 
the price of which is $20. Any one not caring to attend them 
all may buy not less than 25 tickets (one for each lesson) at 
20 cents apiece, and then as many more single tickets at this 
price as may be desired. Candidates for the elementary 
diploma must attend 30 lessons; for the superior diploma, 
all the courses of one of the two series; and candidates pay 
$2 for taking the examinations. 

Members of the Alliance take pains to make agreeable 
ihe sojourn of the students. Receptions, excursions and 
other entertainments serve both for diversion and acquaint- 
ance. More than 1500 places at the theatre are put at the 
service of the students in the course of a summer. 

Information about the arrangements of each year can be 
secured by addressing L’ Alliance Francaise, 45, Rue de 
Crenelle, Paris, after April i. An Illustrated Guide to Paris 
for the Foreign Student will be mailed from the same address 
for 35 cents; it contains information about all the public and 
priVaite courses to which foreigners are admitted, and special 
attention is given to the summer courses; also it has a list of 
families that will take foreign students as boarders. 

The dilettante student who prefers to imbibe the lan- 
guage, will make the quickest progress by turning his back 
on Parisian opportunities for hearing and speaking his own 
tongue. Let him seek some provincial town of Normandy 
or Touraine, preferably the latter. Good teachers will charge 
from 50 cents to $i an hour, but if one settles in a pension 
where there are no Americans, or gets into a private family, 
he will in time acquire a working knowledge of the language 
without special instruction. 

For English-speaking people with some preliminary 
knowledge of French, the Teachers’ Guild arranges Modern 
Language Holiday Courses .that are given in August, to 
meet the needs of vacationists. In 190O courses will again 
be held in Lisieux (Normandy), lasting four weeks, and in 
Tours, lasting three weeks. The fee of $10.20 admits to the 
lectures in French by able professors, and to a conversa- 
tion class, The Guild makes special arrangements with 


i66 


GOING ABROAD? 


pensi'ons, and it is estimated that starting from Loixlon the 
whole cost of the Lisieux course, tuition fee, fares, living 
and all will be about $50; of the Tours course, $60. Send 12 
cents to the Secretary of the Guild at 74, Gower St., W. C., 
London, for a prospectus of the arrangements. One need 
not be a teacher in order to join, but at least a slight knowl- 
edge of Frendh is esisential to getting any profit from the 
courses. 

MUSIC, ART, AND OTHER STUDIES. 

To achieve the greatest triumphs in music, it is agreed 
that some European study is necessary, but how much it 
should be, where it should be taken, and how early it should 
begin are disputed questions. One American who has been 
through it, says: ‘T would advise American girls wtho ex- 

pect to study music professionally, to do all the foundation 
work at home; as good teachers may be had there for $2.50 
a lesson as those in I.ondon who charge twice as much. 
When they have been thoroughly drilled in the rudiments, 
then they can come to London to be finished, but all the rest 
can be done quite as well in Chicago or New York.” 

Christine Nilsson thinks differently in the matter of cul- 
tivating the voice. Says she; “At present, in view of the 
scarcity of good professors of singing in America, the earlier 
a young A_merican pupil comes abroad to begin her studies, 
the better. The placing of the voice is a most necessary and 
delicate point in the early stages of the cultivation of that 
organ, and requires a teacher of great tact and intelligence 
to perfect it. Many young American girls come abroad 
with their voices injured by injudicious training, and even 
when the evil can be repaired, it is only at the cost of the 
expenditure of time and money, both of which can ill be 
spared. As regards the different schools for singing, it is 
an obvious fact that the Italian method is by far the best. It 
is true that my own teacher, W^artel, was a Frenchman, but 
his method was one peculiar to himself, and I know of no 
professor who now continues it. He died several years ago. 
The German method is probably the worst of all, especially 
for the delicate voices of American girls,” 


HOW TO STAY. 


167 

Madame Melba thinks that for the average singer Amer- 
ica offers most excellent teachers; she can find all she needs 
at home. For operaitdc singers some foreign training is prac- 
tically necessary, so long as impresarios consider Europe 
their market, and retired artists make it their hom.e. But she 
says. '‘No girl, unless she has money to throw away — I 
mean by this a large fortune to spend — ^sh*ould go abroa>d for 
v-oical instruction until she 'has been passed upon musically by 
at least two or three artists, — people w'ho value the glory and 
fame of their art, and the life, and perhaps the honor of the 
would-be singer too highly to advise her to enter upon a 
career of privation and hardship w'here there is for her, by 
Nature’s fixed decree, no possibility of success. If possible, 
these artists should be strangers to the singer, — people who 
will not be moved or swayed by any personal interest, arid 
will, therefore, speak only the truth. But only those so 
passed upon, and those others who can aftord to indulge a 
hobby, should ever go abroad fo*r instruction.” 

Said Campanini: “For the mechanical training of the 

voice, it does not matter what country furnishes the curri- 
culum, but for proper phrasing and beauty of style I would 
recommend Italy. In France, I admit, there are very go'od 
schools, but I do not approve of the tremolo that is taught 
in them. In Italy they have almost perfect methods for 
properly placing the voice. The schools of Italy are also 
noted for teaching dramatic expression.” 

The study of music in Paris is very far from inexpensive. 
The most eminent teacher of vocal music demands $70 a 
month and will take no one who will not begin with her from 
the very rudiments of the art. The rule is from $3 to $5 a les- 
son, or from $50 to $70 a month, for the best teachers, pupils 
being expected to take three lessons a week. In London the 
music teachers of the first rank charge from $5 to $10 a les- 
son, and teach only certain things, separate instruction being 
required when French, German or Italian is to be learned. 

Gerntany gets most of the students of instrumental 
music, and Berlin has taken the lead in their instruction. It 
is said that more than 2000 Americans pass each winter there 
in music study. The city has 120 music conservatories, and 


i68 


GOING ABROAD? 


nearly a thousand concerts of one kind or another are given 
between Oct. i and May i. The mas'ters of the profession 
charge from $5 to $10 an hour for private lesisons, but the 
conservator^ies are very much lower in price. The Royal 
High School for Music offers yearly several free scholarships 
for which students of all nations may compete. Adm'ission 
to concerts is cheap according to American notions; some 
of the best orchestral music can be heard at “popular con- 
certs” twice a week for 10 cents. Without great hardship 
the economical student can reduce living expenses to $25 or 
even $20 a month. 

The expense of studying art on the Continent is no- 
where so great as it is in New York. As one student in 
Paris says: “A fellow can live as he pleases. I wear only 

the oldest clothes, — all the fellows do, and no one thinks 
anything of it. The rent of the studios is very cheap, and 
the tuition in the best studios is but $4 a month.” 

American children would better be educated in American 
schools. Perhaps for the sake of the language a boy might 
well pass a year in some Continental school, but a girl would 
better study in America till she is well grounded in the rudi- 
ments of knowledge. If she is then to study abroad for a 
while, let it be in one of the pension schools (boarding 
schools) of Switzerland rather than of Paris. A year there 
should give her a mastery of French, but if German is the 
object, two years of schooling in Germany will be none too 
little. 

For purposes of miscellaneous study perhaps Dresden 
offers the most attractions. At any rate nearly 3000 Englisih- 
speaking people may be found in residence there, mos«t of 
them more or less studious in their intentions. Berlin and 
Hanover offer better advantages in German and literature. 
Berlin, Weimar and Leipsic have more famous schools for 
music. Paris, Florence and Rome take the lead in painting 
and art. But one does not find in any one of these cities all 
the facilities for the study of German, literature, music, 
painting, and decorative art combined as in Dresden. This 
concentration of advantages, in an age when the rapid at- 
tainment of knowledge means so much, must account for 


HOW TO STAY. 169 

Dresden’s attracting so many visitors, for its cHmate, during 
the winter season at any rate, is very far from delightful. 


FEES. 


No other foreign custom perplexes arid annoys t!he 
American so much as that of feeing. He has been brought up 
in the belief that a service without a price demands no recom- 
pense. Save where the fee system has wormed its way into 
our larger cities, as in their larger hotels, he has been ac- 
customed to pay the proprietor of any one establishment for 
all the work done for him by its employees. The spirit of 
independence and self-reliance, ingrained in his very nature, 
has made it natural for him to do for himself all he can, to 
accept from others the minimum of aid in all personal mat- 
ters, — in his favorite phrase, “to paddle his own canoe.” 
From the moment he lands in Europe he finds a state of 
affairs directly contrary to all his experience, — porters ag- 
grieved if he carries his bag across the railway platform, 
cabmen astounded if he walks to his hotel, other porters 
lying in wait to lug up stairs even an umbrella, somebody 
solicitous to unlock his trunk. He starts out to see the town; 
before he can get through the door, the portier bustles up to 
offer his help, to suggest the sights, to name good shops, to 
call a cab. Outside, half a dozen cabmen snap their whips 
and beg his patronage; from one to a dozen guides may 
urge their aid. He comes to a celebrated ciiurah; some 
pitiful pauper opens the do'or or lifts the curtain; within, a 
sexton or sacristan presents himself to show its sights, to un- 
lock .the gates of a chapel, to take him into the crypt. He 
reaches a museum; running the gauntlet of guides, he gets in 
only to find an attendant in eVeryroom, sometimes taking 
a card list of pictures from a table and offering it to him, 
sometimes unlocking a door kept locked merely to force 
strangers to ask that it may be opened, sometimes volunteer- 
ing needless information. And so it goes, from one end of 
Europe to the other, always somebody at 'hand to thrust ser- 
vices upon you, and every mother’s son of them expecting 


170 


GOING ABROAD? 


recompense. If the tariff is fixed, more is invariably wanted, 
the exfra amount being the perquisite of the person with 
whom you come in contact. 

It is no use to fus-s over it, to say hard things about it, 
to begrudge the cost. Take it as a matter of course, look 
at it reasonably and judiciously, study it, and conform to it. 

Lay down two rules of action and adhere to them: 

1. Accept no service that you are not willing to remu- 
nerate. 

2. Fee only those who do something for you. 

If you want to carry your own luggage, carry it. If you 
want to walk, — why, walk. What folly to ride simply because 
half a dozen dirty scoundrels, — at least, they look as if they 
might be scoundrels, and are most assuredly dirty, — act as if 
they expected you to ride! If you can see in a church or 
museum by yourself all that you care to see, why give some- 
body a franc and be bored with his company, rather than 
tell him you don’t want a guide? Guides are sometimes use- 
ful, sometimes necessary, but as to when and where, believe 
your- guide-book rather than the man who wants you to 
hire him. 

Cabs are often wise economy, hotel people have their 
uses, even luggage porters may be of great service. Use 
them when you want them, always with the certainty that 
everybody below your own station in life expects to be paid 
for what he does for you. The gentle art of doing favors, 
as practiced in America, is unknown abro«ad. 

I overdraw the thing purposely, that the reader may get 
into the right frame of mind. There are many Europeans 
of humble rank who are hospitable or courteous without 
mercenary motives, but even they are almost invariably will- 
ing to have their courtesy or hospitality rewarded if you 
choose. Once a New England brakeman, a complete 
stranger, found an umbrella of mine and returned it to me 
with some trouble; he would not listen to the idea of taking 
any reward. His features showed that he was of Yankee 
birth, and his attitude in this matter was that of the genuine 
American. He had done for me something he had not been 
hired to do, had not been asked to do, and the satisfaction 
of having performed a courteous action was all the reward 


HOW TO STAY. 




he wanted. That attitude is the rule with us; it is the ex- 
ception, and the rare exception, abroad. 

So be prepared to pay for eve**ything, and When you 
get a gratuitous favor, tell the man his rightful place is in 
America; at the same time, encourage the pernicious Euro- 
pean system by rewarding him for not expecting a reward. 
A hundred to one he’ll take it! 

To urge that fees be given only to those who do a 
service, is advice that seems needless, yet would that it were 
heeded by the Americans who go through Europe with the 
notion that every man or woman into whose hands they can 
get a coin is a deserving victim of misfortune! Perhaps it 
is a duty for us to distribute our savings at random among 
the lower classes of Europe, but I can’t see why, unless we 
ought to make it up to them for the cruelty of Providence in 
planting them there. 

Generosity is an admirable trait, but every officer of 
Associated Charities will tel'l you that its excess does more 
hurt than its absence. 

The people with whom a traveler co-mes in contact are 
not paupers. Most of them earn as much as they deserve. 
In some of the Parisian cafes a waiter’s place commands a 
big bonus; that is, men are glad to pay large sums to get 
the chance for fees. Did you know that in some of our big 
American hotels the head porter gets every fee given to 
under porters; that he pays them wages, and pays the land- 
lord for the privilege of doing the work? Your extra dime 
helps enrich a man you never saw. Likewise in many Euro- 
pean hotels all fees given to waiters are pooled, and the man 
you want to reward particularly, gets perhaps only a very 
small percentage of your bounty. 

For this reason, never fee both the head waiter and 
your table waiter. But you must always fee one or the 
Other. 

The portier is the only exception to the rule not to give 
if nothing is done. It is an unwritten law that he shall be 
maintained by the public, not by the landlord. He is a useful 
institution, of service to the traveling public as a class, and 


172 GOING ABROAD? 

V 

as one of that class, you are morally bound to help pay his 
cost. ^ 

If the chambermaid does for you anything outside her 
routine work, she should get a fee, always small; otherwise 
she may be ignored when ^he lies in wait for you as you 
descend the hotel stairs for the last time, though as a matter 
of fact you are likely to feel that she needs the fee more than 
anybody else, and perhaps deserves it more, so that your 
conscience will rest the easier if you remember her. 

The declaration of too many tourists that you must fee 
everybody in a European hotel, is all nonsense. The indis- 
pensables are the portier, if the hotel has one, the waiter, 
and whoever handles trunks or blacks boots. The others 
are mere charities. 

I am informed that in Saxony and in Austria courts 
have sustained servants in suits to secure fees. The Saxony 
case was brought against a commercial traveler w*ho stayed 
four weeks at a hotel and offered the “boots” a dollar 'on his 
departure. The aggrieved boots goit a verdict of $2.50. Prob- 
ably the commercial traveler’s trunks had something to do 
with the case. In Vienna, it is reported, a servant may hold 
the guest’s baggage if the fee is not large enough. 

As to amounts, the easy and common rule is to give 
10 per cent, of the bill if you stay but one night or take a 
single meal. This applies whether the bill is twenty cents or 
two dollars or twenty dollars. A penny in the shilling is all 
that English waiters expect; ten centimes (or two cents) in 
the franc all that French waiters expect. Where a hotel bill 
is above $2, a percentage as low as five per cent, may be 
given without surprise. On paying a bill of $5 at a hotel 
it would be the usual thing to give the waiter twenty cents, 
the portier twenty cents, and the chambermaid five cents. 
On paying $8 you might give no more and no comment 
would be even looked; or you might make it thirty cents for 
the waiter, the same for the portier, and five or ten cents 
for the chambermaid. 

The Paris New York Herald sent a series of questions 
about the tipping system to all the leading hotel keepers of 
Europe. Most of them in reply advised fro-m twenty to forty 


HOW TO STAY. 


173 


cents a week for each servant, whic'h, as hotel rates run, 
makes about the ten per cent. I have advised, if, say, five 
servants get rememl>ered. Nearly all the correspondents 
stated that their servants did not depend entirely on the tips 
received for their living, as they received salaries. It was 
to be noted, however, that the salaries were seldom stated 
to be more than $8 a month. 

Summed up, the symiposium seemed to prove that the 
tipping system is too firmly fixed to be abolished; that it 
procures better service for the traveler; that it makes the 
servants m'ore contented, and renders them more valuable 
to the employer; and that the person who tips carefully gets 
just as good service as the one w’ho tips indiscriminately. 
One piece of information given is that hotel keepers while 
traveling are very sparing of their tips. 

Never pay any fees before the time of departure except 
when making a stay of man-y weeks in a pension. You are 
not expected in hotels to dole out the pennies or francs from 
meal to meal, or, indeed, at any time before you go awtay. 
But if practicable it is well in large hotels to distribute the 
fees before it is known that you are going to leave, as other- 
wise you may find yourself encumbered with needless aitten- 
tion from servants, who may hitherto have neglected you, 
perhaps may not even have shown themselves. 

Look at it purely as a matter of business. If you 
haven’t the change, make the waiter or the porter or who- 
ever you want to fee, get your money changed, and then 
give bim what you meant to give, no more. In an Ameri- 
can hotel that would bethought stingy; abroad it is thought 
the natural thing. 

In pensions, ten per cent, of the bills would be an un- 
usual distribution. If you stay several weeks, five per cent, 
will be a great plenty, and two or three per cent, is probably 
nearer the common thing. 

The idea that even servants in private houses must be 
feed, is the most repugnant of all to American instincts. 
Yet go to a mansion of rank for even a stay over night and 
you are expected to remember the butler and the footman. 
Americans overdo the thing, as always in the matter of kes. 


174 


GOING ABROAD? 


and anger the more penurious of their British cousins by 
treating dollars as if they were shillings. The notion is 
wrong that fees are to be given on the occasion oI a single 
meal in a British household; they are expected only from 
those who pass a night or more. 

Do not suppose that the system flourishes without pro- 
tests. The Duke of Fife, with whom the Prince of Wales 
stays during his annual visits to Scotland, has tried bard to 
prevent the giving of tips at New Mar Lodge, by posting 
a formal warning against it in the guest chambers, and it is 
known that the Prince shares the Duke’s views of the matter. 
In many castles and chateaux a box is placed in the hall, 
where guests may put whatever it is their pleasure to give 
the servants, and at intervals its contents are fairly distributed 
among them all. Tourists who are shown through Eaton 
Hall, the magnificent country place of the Duke of West- 
minster, are forbidden to give fees to the attendants, and in 
lieu thereof pay an entrance fee devoted to charitable objects. 
At a few other “show places” there is an attempt to accom- 
plish the same end. Occasionally there is a hotel where 
notices in the rooms beg travelers not to give fees and it is 
declared that the servants are amply paid. Employes of Eng- 
lish railroads are forbidden to receive fees, but there at 'least 
the prohibition is ludicrously ineffective. “Tuppence,” four 
cents, is in practice the legal tender fee on British railroads. 

The garcon (waiter) at a cafe gets fees of one or two 
cents, usually the latter, for serving beverages. Cab drivers 
are usually made happy by ten per cent., with either four or 
five cents as the minimum, according as the unit of coinage 
corresponds to our 20 or 25 cents. In such a place as Naples, 
where the prescribed fare is abnormally low, only 14 cents, 
to give a lira, twenty cents, is frequent. 

In museums and galleries, fees of half a franc, or half a 
lira, or half a shilling, or whatever the unit may be, pre- 
dominate. It is always safe to start on that; if more is the 
custom, don’t fear that you will not be told of it. Two 
people traveling together need give no more than the solitary 
tourist. 

The fees expected by concierges or janitors are -a con- 


HOW TO STAY. 


175 


stant source of complaint by Americans dwelling abroad. 
The concierge is an autocrat, a tyrant, an unmitigated irri- 
tant. But the despot must be feed. In Vienna, for example, 
the front door of every apartment house is required by law 
to be closed and locked at lo o’clock every night. Not a 
tenant may have a latch-key, but after that hour must ring 
up the janitor, who gets for his trouble the inevitable lO 
kreuzers. As a consequence the streets are alive with hurry- 
ing people up to the fatal hour, and after that are as dead 
as a country village. It is usual for even the theatres to 
time themselves so that the spectators may be siaved their lo 
kreuzers. 

New Year’s day is the time when the concierge reaps 
his or her big harvest. In Paris the occupant of a modest 
apartment is expected then to give at least $5, and “en- 
trennes” of $10 or $20 are not uncommon. Every small- 
salaried underling also levies tribute in the most barefaced 
way, making the rounds of his neighborhood and frankly 
asking for his present. It is averred that the postal employes 
in France could not live on the miserable salaries they get 
were it not for the annual bonus from the public. The ordinary 
carrier gets $20 a month, and expects to add to this at least 
$50 at New Year’s. There are postmen of different grades, 
depending on the class of mail they carry; each class appoints 
representatives to collect money from every district, and 
the money is then divided. A stranger generally makes the 
mistake of giving a good sum to the first postman w'ho calls, 
not knowing that two others will follow him to collect for 
their class. They begin their rounds about the first of De- 
cember, with calendars, worth about half a cent, to present 
to each person on the list. They are very polite. If it is 
not convenient to pay the money that day they will trust you 
for the calendar and “pass again.” 

All the servants must be remembered with hard cash — 
not with mittens or shawls or neckties, if you please, but with 
cash. In Parisian families the French maids cling to the 
old fiction of a month’s wages, or what used to be a good 
month’s wages, $5 a month, as a proper New Year’s gift. 
This has by general custom become reduced to a gold piece, 


176 


GOING ABROAD? 


$4, for a servant that has remained more than a year iti the 
family, and $2 for tho-se who have been in service for a 
shorter time. This sum is given in the most perfunctory way 
and conventional thanks are returned in the same manner. 
The German and Englisih servants w*ho have of late years 
flocked to Paris do not expect so much in the way of a 
present, for they demand higher wages than the French-born 
maid usually receives. 

The cabman expects a fee bigger than usual. The bus 
conductor expects two cents more than the ordinary fare. 
The butcher boy and every other tradesman’s employe who 
co*mes into the house counts on going out the richer. The 
cafe waiters offer a very Cheap and very bad cigar to every 
regular patron, expecting in return a franc or two. And so 
it goes until the close-fisted man wishes the New Year in 
perdition, and even the generous man with an ample purse 
finds it emptied, at least of all the silver. 


CHAPTER VII. 


Plow TO SEE. 

Up to times within the memory of living men, almost 
no one of means traveled through Europe without a courier. 
Before railroads were built and before good guide books 
were printed, he was almost indispensable. His tribe sur- 
vives, but in greatly diminished numbers. To the self- 
reliant traveler he is of no use whatever. Indeed, he is fre- 
quently a positive encumbrance, and worse. 

The time may have been when a courier could save a 
traveler more than his cost. Most certainly that is not the 
case now. On the contrary, as he gets a percentage on 
every purchase his party makes (which, of course, comes 
out of the purchaser in increased price), and as it is often for 
his interest to advise the more costly route, the more costly 
hotel, or the more costly excursion, he eats up much more 
than his wages, while saving positively nothing. In a two 
weeks* trip in Southern Spain, which we made side by side 
with a couple having a courier, we invariably reached the 
hotel first, got the better rooms, saw all the sights to as good 
advantage; yet the courier was of his kind an expert. The 
fact is that travel has become so general; tourist companies, 
railroads, and landlords have so well studied its needs; books 
are so plentiful, that one couldnk very well get off the track 
or have a mishap if he tried. 

Doubtless the decay of the courier has also been in some 
measure due to the growth of the ^'personally conducted 
party.** Every year sees more Americans going abroad 
under the guidance of people who make a business or an 
avocation of conducting tours. I have already alluded to 


177 



178 


GOING ABROAD? 


some of the disadvantages of this mode of travel, such as the 
limitations of inflexible itineraries. It may with perfect fair- 
ness also be pointed out that many people find it distasteful 
to travel with the notoriety that attaches to a considerable 
group of sight-seers. The name of the inventor of the ex- 
cursion system has been made the basis of a generic term, 
and as the carriages of any large party roll along the boule- 
vards of Paris, one may hear the comment, ‘There go a 
batch of Cookies!” There is, in fact, no valid reason why 
one should feel chagrined at the comment, no valid reason 
why one shcnld not enjoy art or architecture or scenery in 
the company of his fellow men just as he enjoys music or 
acting or eloquence in their company, but logical or not, it 
is the fact that many of us prefer to wander through museums 
and cathedrals and palaces alone or with few companions. 

Against this set the helpfulness of a leader who knows in 
advance what is worth seeing and why and where, who 
abounds with pertinent anecdote and reminiscence, who can 
save time and trouble. Assume that he commands the lan- 
guage, that he is a past master in the art of time-tables, that 
he is a connoisseur in the matter of restaurants, that he is a 
very Solom'on in knowledge of hotels. May not the leader- 
ship of such a man be worth the buying? May not it pay 
to have a joint ownership for two or three months in this 
embodiment of experience? 

Perhaps so. But at any rate it is worth while reckoning 
up the cost in advance. Some of the projectors of these 
personally-conducted parties appear to set a pretty high val- 
uation on their services, and their profits may or may not be 
warranted. Others are offer'ing prices that are reasonable, 
even cheap. Of course people take up this business like any 
other, for profit, and a fair profit should not be denied them, 
but it is a foolish customer who buys without any idea as to 
whether the goods are worth the money. To determine it 
approximately, take the itinerary offered; set down from $too 
to $200 for the ocean passages, according to the steamer, 
cabin and season; multiply the aggregate of rail distance by 
the average figures for fares I have given in a preceding 
cdiapter; allow $2.50 a day, the price of Cook coupons, for 


HOW TO SEE. 


179 


Continental hotel bills, and $3 a day in Great Britain; throw 
in 50 cents a day for carriages, entrance fees, etc. The total 
will be not so very far from a reasonable price for the trans- 
portation and subsistence ordinarily offered. Whether t/he 
gain the tourist company or manager makes through dis- ’ 
counts for parties, through the lower prices of hotels in 
towns, and in other legitimate ways, will offset the traveling 
expenses of the conductor by more than enough to give a 
fair profit, is a business problem that is the concern of the 
merchant in tours. I submit merely that he may not fairly 
demand much in excess of the gross, retail cost of transpor- 
tation and subsistence. 

I have taken occasion to commend the helpfulness and 
courtesy of the tourist agencies. Let me here add that I 
have never heard their integrity questioned. Their man- 
agers and their agents surpass the average of business men 
in fair dealing and honorable methods. They are a useful 
and valuable factor in the world of travel. And they would 
not thrive if they were not helpful to many people. Their 
personally-conducted tours and many of those organized by 
individuals are all right, for people who like that sort of 
thing. Such people, however, need not quarrel with me be- 
cause to my mind one of the great pleasures of travel is in 
learning travel by myself, and because I find satisfaction, 
pleasure and education in planning routes, deciphering time 
tables, making bargains, learning by observation the lay of 
the land. 

Every place in Europe worth the seeing has its local 
guides, speaking your language, better acquainted with the 
place than any courier can be, and usually to be employed 
at reasonable rates. Whether you will employ them de- 
pends entirely on your own tastes. Usually they are not in- 
dispensable. Often, however, they will take you to places it 
would be harder for you to find by yourself; now and then 
they know something the guide-book does not tell; if you 
are completely ignorant of the language, occasionally their 
services in interpreting will be of much help. 

London and Paris have bureaus of “lady” guides that I 
hear commended for their services in aiding both sight- 


i8o 


GOING ABROAD? 


•seeing and shopping. The guides are said to be women of 
refinement and intelligence, and were not the word “lady” 
so vulgarly misused in the title of these institutions, an Amer- 
ican woman might make use of them at least without preju- 
dice and very likely with advantage. 

Whenever you hire a guide and he takes you to some 
place where fees are probable, make him tell you before you 
enter what fees you are to give, thus determining the cost 
in advance and avoiding the embarrassment of consulting 
him in the presence of the person to be feed. 

If you plan to do a place by yourself, it is desirable to 
have a list prepared of the things to be seen, or at any rate, 
to check them in the guide book. Then immediately on 
arrival at the hotel, ask when you can see places not certain 
to be accessible at all times. Museums are usually closed on 
one day of the week; churches may be open only at certain 
hours. The times for these things frequently change, and 
no guide book can keep up with all the changes. If you 
neglect this precaution, you may find a day wasted, and even 
miss altogether seme important place that you might just 
as well have seen early in your stay. 

When time is an object, it is w'ell to plan in advance 
your w'hole stay in any given city, allotting so much work to 
each day. The conscientious sight-seer spends his evenings 
in studying up what he is to see the next day. To postpone 
reading up a place till after you enter it, often results in miss- 
ing important features, or in not comprehending them. 

Any but an impecunious tourist should prescribe to him- 
self the rule, “Never walk in order to save money.” Or if 
he insists on being parsimonious, let him reflect that “time 
is money” to a sig'ht-seer, and that if the journey is of the 
hurried variety, it is more profitable to save minutes than to 
save pennies. Cabs are plenty and cab-hire is cheap; cars 
and busses abound in all the cities, and their fares are trivial. 
Distances are long in places like London and Paris, and one 
needs all his strength for the galleries and palaces and the 
other places where one must w^alk. A summer 'tourist should 
not begrudge twenty or thirty dollars for cabs. 

Yet it is not the fact that cabs always save the most time. 


HOW TO SEE. 


i8i 


If one is landed on the dock at Liverpool instead of the 
landing-stage, he will find at the very outset that time will 
be saved if he will take the trouble to walk to the street and 
climb the stairs to the elevated train. It is several miles from 
the centre of Liverpool to the docks of the American pas- 
senger boats, and the trains are the quickest way to cover 
them. Baggage can be sent in town safely by an expressman, 
and will be promptly delivered. The elevated train, too, gives 
the best chance to see Liverpoofs biggest sight, the docks. 

Plebeian though it may seem, there is no better way to 
see the street life of a city than from the to<p of an omnibus. 
Virtually all the ’buses abroad and most of the street cars 
have seats on top, often with a fare cheaper than that of the 
inside seats, yet far more desirable for the tourist. Women 
and men alike mount the steps, and though the aristocratic 
native will hire a cab When she does not use her own car- 
riage, no American woman need fear ridicule or even em- 
barrassment if she goes about on the top of a bus. At first 
she hesitates, but very soon the convenience and profit of 
seeing city streets from such a point of vantage overcome 
all scruples, and once accustomed to riding on top, nothing 
but rain will drive her inside. By the way, it is not the cus- 
tom, and in Paris it is forbidden, to change from outside to 
interior while the bus or car is in motion. A novice who 
tried it in Paris relates to me with an amusement she did 
not at the time feel, how the conductor put her off the bus 
when a shower led her to change her place. 

On the continent a sightseer who neglects the cafes and 
beer gardens misses one of the most diverting and instructive 
characteristics of European life. We Americans have come 
to entertain such a justifiable abhorrence of the drinking 
saloon that we find it hard to conceive of drinking resorts 
where decent, self-respecting people may congregate, and 
yet just such resorts are the..^reatest daily pleasure of thous- 
ands on thousands of the Temperate, respectable people of 
France and Germany and other Continental nations. In the 
Latin countries, where wine is the most common beverage, 
the cafe tables choke the sidewalks during all the warm 
weather. In the Germanic countries, beer and orchestras 


GOING ABROAD? 


182 

appear inseparable, and the tables are usually in enclosures 
to which potted shrubs give the name of gardens. Here 
whole families come to gossip and listen. The drinking is 
the excuse, not the reason, and a glass or two of beer or 
wine or what we should call soda is quite enough of a pre- 
text to occupy a seat during a whole eventing. Anywhere 
in the Latin countries it is quite the proper thing after a 
table d’hote dinner at the hotel, to find the best cafe in 

town and spend an hour or two over a cup of black coffee, 

looking at the illustrated papers, listening to music, chatting 
with other members of the party, or making the acquaint- 
ance easily picked up with one’s neighbors. The traveler 

who doesn’t do this will have many a long and lonely even- 
ing, besides throwing away his best chance to study the 
people from near at hand and when they are most them- 
selves. 

The parks furnish another pleasant way of observing the 
masses. To appreciate the love of a French father for his 
children and his intimacy with them, go to the Luxembourg 
Garden in Paris on a Sunday afternoon. See the modern 
Roman at his best on the Pincian Hill toward sunset. Find 
out what vagaries the human mind can conceive by going 
from group to group on Hyde Park by the Marble Arch 
in London of a Sunday, and listening to the orators then 
revelling in free speech. 

Beware of trespassing on forbidden ground near fort- 
resses, and of sketching or photographing w^here you may 
be arrested on suspicion of seeking dangerous information. 

Pick-'pockets are by no means a rarity abroad. It is said 
they frequent the Rhine steamers, all railway junctions, and 
especially the Italian cities. Personally, I never suffered at 
their hands, nor met anybody who had suffered, but the 
ordinary precautions of travel are doubtless as wise in this 
matter abroad as at home. Sharpers are said to haunt the 
Channel steamers, and on the larger trans-Atlantic boats they 
sometimes fleece the unwary. 

It may be well to inform the masculine reader that half 
the questionable sights of Paris are arranged for his special 
benefit. With so much to be seen in Europe that is beautiful 


HOW TO SEE. 


1S3 

and elevating and refining, i-t is 'hardly worth w'hile to spend 
time and money in the hunt for debasing spectacles that can 
be just as easily found in New York, if anybody cares to 
study the dark side of human nature. 

Delightful though it may be to have the guidance of 
some relative or acquaintance dwelling in the city you may 
be visiting, yet be careful about making demands on time that 
may be begrudged from business or study. The American 
youth who dwells abroad with serious motives cannot with- 
out a sacrifice lay down the brush or leave the piano stool 
in order to give hours to showing his callers about the 
town. The New York merchant does not expect to roam 
from the Riverside Drive to Coney Island with every Chi- 
cago or Louisville or Crossroads customer that visits Man- 
hattan. Put yourself in the place of your host and conclude 
what may reasonably be expected or given in the way of 
time and entertainment. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


Merchants in different countries are accustomed to pay 
sach other by means of bills of exchange, not with cash. 
For example, Jones of New York owes a certain amount 
to Schmidt of Berlin; Braun of Berlin owes the same amount 
to Henry of New York. If Jones pays that amount to Henry 
and Braun pays an equal amount to Schmidt, the debts will 
be cancelled. Perhaps Henry accomplishes it by writing a 
draft on Braun, — an order to Braun to pay the amount in 
question to the bearer of the order, — a paper called a bill 
of exchange, which he sells to Jones. Then Jones mails the 
order to his creditor, Schmidt, who presents it to Braun 
and gets his money. This saves the expressage on two 
shipments of gold. 

When the whole body of American merchants owe 
more money abroad than is owed to them, som'ebody must 
ship some gold across the water. Whoever has a bill of ex- 
change, a draft on a foreign merchant, can pay his foreign 
debts at the cost of a postage stamp; whoever cannot get 
such a bill must pay the cost of shipping gold. This makes 
a demand for bills of exchange, increases their value, and 
the rate of exchange is said to be high. Vice versa, when 
the foreign merchants owe the more, bills of exchange hunt 
for purchasers, their value lessens, and the rate of exchange 
is said to be low. 

No traveler wants a large amount of gold on his per- 
son or in his luggage, for it is heavy and it is likely to be 
stolen. So he takes advantage of the system of bills of ex- 
change. He may, if he choose, buy these bills of- an Ameri- 
can merchant or banker, and sell them to some banker or 
merchant when he gets abroad. But it is more convenient 
and is the common practice for him to arrange with an 

184 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


185 

American banker to honor drafts, which the traveler draws 
when and where occasion may demand. In other words, he 
sells to some foreign banker an order on the American 
banker, which then becomes a bill of exchange, and goes 
traveling through foreign banks till it finds some foreign 
merchant who wants to pay a bill in America, buys it, 
mails it to his creditor, who in turn presents it to the 
American banker and gets his money. Of course, the thing 
is complicated and modified when a banking house has many 
agencies, and you draw at one for money you have deposited 
at another, but the general principle of exchange holds. 

LETTERS OF CREDIT. 

When a banker gives you what is virtually a certificate 
that he will honor your drafts to a given amount, the paper 
is called a circular letter of credit. There is attached to it a 
list of bankers in other countries who are obligated to cash 
the drafts, but as they will be honored, whoever presents 
them to the house issuing the letter, you can sell them to 
any banker or other person not on the printed list, though it 
is customary to get drafts cashed at the banking places 
specified. 

The practice of banking houses in issuing letters of 
credit varies somewhat in the matter of terms. The simplest 
method is to sell it outright, in which case, if you pay $1000, 
you get a credit of $1000, or its exact equivalent in pounds, 
there being charged in addition a fee of one per cent, for 
issuing the credit. Under tl is method, you get no interest 
for your money; the banker has the use of it till your drafts 
are presented, and this, with his commission, and what he 
may make through the rates of exchange, is what remu- 
nerates him. 

Another method is for you to deposit with the banker 
what sum you please, for which you get a letter of credit 
in which the pound is figured at $5, instead of in the neigh- 
borhood of $4.86, its real value. As your drafts come in, 
they are figured at the prevailing rate of exchange, and you 
are debited with their amounts on that basis. Furthermore, 
you are allowed interest; at the time this is written two per 


GOING ABROAD? 


1 86 

cent, is being allowed, but should the demand for money 
increase, a higher rate will prevail. On your return, if you 
have not drawn to the full value of the letter, you collect 
whatever balance may stand to your credit. This method 
may be the more economical if your deposit is large and you 
do not reduce your balance rapidly. 

The letter of credit may also be secured by depositing 
with the banker high-grade securities, against which he will 
advance what money you may draw. Thus you will profit 
by what interest they may bear, and by any increase in their 
value. 

If your standing in the financial world is high, you may 
be able to arrange with the banker not to deposit either 
money or securities, but to have your drafts presented by 
him at your counting-room; it might be said that in such 
a case you deposited your credit rather than your cash. 

In return for what you pay the banker for issuing the 
letter of credit, you get these advantages: The carriage of 
your wealth in the most portable form (a sheet of paper), 
and in the safest form, for if the sheet is lost nobody can 
use it without forging your name, and by at once notifying 
your banker you can have him stop payment; the chance 
to get the money of the country at its lowest cost in every 
city you are likely to visit; the use of a list of bankers in 
whose care your mail may safely be addressed, and who will 
forward it without charge wherever you may direct; the 
chance to use the facilities for writing and newspaper read- 
ing with which most foreign banking houses are supplied; 
and the profits that accrue to the man who has bills of ex- 
change for sale. These profits are not inconsiderable, and 
instances are sometimes reported of shrewd American finan- 
ciers who pay a small part of the cost of a foreign trip by 
watching the local market for bills of exchange and specu- 
lating as they go along. Of course it takes experience and 
wide commercial knowledge to do this. 

The ordinary letters of credit are seldom issued for less 
amounts than a hundred pounds, — in round numbers, $500. 
When issued for smaller amounts they cost as much as if 
issued for the full hundred pounds. So if your ready money 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


187 


when you are about to »tart is less than $500, it will be 
cheaper to take it witb you in some other form. The com- 
mon method is to buy what are really drafts for stipulated 
amounts, whkh can be cashed at banks, hotels, tourist agen- 
cies, and many other places. Some bankers issue them under 
the name of '‘Patent Credits,” which are sheets of checks 
for five pounds ($25) each, the aggregate being $250, $500, 
$1,000, $1,500, or at the option of the buyer. They give the 
holder the same privileges in the -use of foreign banking 
house conveniences that he would secure with the ordinary 
letter of credit, but you must draw your money in multi- 
ples of $25, while on the ordinary letter of credit you can 
draw any amount you wish, be it large or small, to the tace 
value, less previous drafts, of course. The commission 
charge is one per cent., so that a "Patent Credit” for $250 
can be secured for $2.50, where the ordinary letter of credit 
would cost $5, the commission for anything less than $500. 

The same purpose is accomplished by the "cheques ' 
of the banking house instituted for this very end, and by 
the "travelers' cheques” of the express company. The bank- 
ing house issues books of ‘'cheques,” each of which has the 
maximum amount for which it can be drawn printed and 
perforated, but it may be drawn for any smaller amount, 
from a penny up. If checks are drawn for smaller amounts 
than the maximum, the balances are credited to the owner 
of the book, to go toward a new book or to be refunded. 
The system, therefore, has the advantage of permitting the 
holder of a book to pay his bills with checks exactly as he 
would at home, and virtually amounts to a bank deposit 
against which the depositor can readily draw without the 
need of personal acquaintance with the person to whom the 
check is paid. As with ordinary banks there is no charge for 
opening the account, and the bank gets its profit from the 
use of the money; it allows a small rate of interest. 

The express company system is one of checks in fixed 
denominations of $10, $20, $50, $100, and $200, with the 
exact foreign money equivalents paid therefor (in gold or 
its equivalent) in the principal countries of Europe, printed 
on each check. This certainty as to what he is to receive 


GOING ABROAD? 


1 88 

is an advantage to the holder unacquainted with foreign 
currencies, or exposed to deception, but the chief merit of 
the express checks is the ease with which they can be cashed. 
Hotel and shop-keepers all along the general routes will 
accept them in payment of bills, or will cash them. The 
banker is not always easily found, or in such a city as Paris 
your pension may be a mile or two away. Banking rooms 
are open only in the daytime, and on Sundays and fete days 
but a few hours if at all, so that to reach them at the right 
time in hurried traveling you may have to waste a day. 
Thus, even if you carry the bulk of your money in the form 
of a letter of credit, it may be wise to have express orders 
on hand for speedy use. Furthermore, you can cash them in 
smaller amounts than you like to get at a banker’s. The ad- 
vantage of getting a small amount also counts sometimes 
when you are about to go from one country to another, 
and haven’t quite ready money enough, as, if you draw a 
considerable sum from the banker, you may lose on 
the exchange when you get in^o the other country. Also, 
if the members of a family or traveling party are to separate 
for a while, the checks may be divided between them. Iden- 
tification is secured by comparison of signatures. The com- 
mission for issuing is half of one per cent. They are sold 
for cash; under guaranty of the buyer and a responsible 
bank, trust company, or banker; or against deposits of cash 
or high-grade marketable securities. Their one disadvantage 
is that they allow no chance for profiting by fluctuations 
in the rate of exchange. Were it not for this, their reason- 
able cost and many conveniences would make them even 
more popular than they now arc, 

CURRENCY. 

Gold is the international standard of value in Europe, 
and nominally an ounce of gold has the same purchasing 
power the world over, no matter how it may be labelled. 
Yet even gold is liable to the local fluctuations of demand 
and supply; in Gibraltar, for example, by reason of the trade 
relations with England, a given amount of gold minted at 
London may command a higher premium than an equal 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


189 


amount minted at Paris. Where »the demands of exchange 
do not affect the matter, a coin is naturally worth imore in 
its own country than in another, so that if you were going 
from France to Germany it would be wiser to buy German 
gold in Paris than to wait till you reached Berlin and there 
buy it with Frenc'h gold. For the same reason, do not ex- 
pect to sell at a premium what foreign gold you may bring 
home with you from Europe. 

I have been told that United States one and tw'o dollar 
bills command a considerable premium in many parts of 
Europe, by reason, I suppose, of their utility in making small 
remittances to the States by mail, but when I acted on this 
and sent a dollar bill to a London house to pay for merchan- 
dise priced at four shillings and two pence, they 'sent word 
asking me in future to remember that they had to sell such 
bills at a discount. Yet somewhere I was assured that an 
American traveler had made a considerable sum by carrying 
a big roll of American bills to Europe with him and selling 
them to money changers. 

The paper money of several countries is a depreciated 
currency, and is nowhere worth its face value. The effect 
is deceptive. You go to Italy, for instance, with the im- 
pression that a lira is Worth a franc, and w'hen you get in the 
exchange more liras than you had francs, you think you 'have 
made money, but your lira is worth less, it buys less, and you 
have actually profited only on paper. This statement, how- 
ever, must be modified by calling attention to the fact that 
prices of small articles, together with many standard rates, 
such as those of hotels and railroads, are not changed as 
currency fluctuates: when the lira drops a cent or two in 
Italy, the hotel still charges 10 liras, and a ticket from Flor- 
ence to Rome still has the same nominal price; so as your 
English or French gold buys more liras, you are the gainer. 
I have already pointed out that therefore it is not wise to buy 
railroad tickets in a country other than that where a depreci- 
ated currency prevails, for use in that country. 

A Bank of England note is as good as British gold 
anywhere in the civilized world, and is much more easy 
to carry. Furthermore, it is numbered, so that in case of 



GOING ABROAD? 


190 

loss payment can be stopped. On the whole it is better to 
carry English gold than that of any other nation, for the 
reason that it is usually more in demand. Furthermore, the 
integrity of the English mint is unquestioned, and the ac- 
curacy of its coinage is unimpeachable, which gives its coins 
a slight advantage. 

For use on ship-board, then, and for immediate use after 
landing, before you can get to a banker’s, it is well to take 
some Eng‘lish coins or bank-notes from New York or where- 
ever you sail. Your banker will sell it to you at a lower 
premium than a money changer will charge, doing it merely 
as an accommodation and not expecting the money-changer’s 
profit. The pursers o>f the boats will change money until 
their stock runs short, but of course they do not make quite 
so favorable rates of exchange as you can get on shore. 
The wine-lists of the various boats are priced in the currency 
of the nation under whose dag the boat sails, and there is a 
slight advantage in paying in that currency. 

Fix it in your head that the shilling and the mark, the 
common silver coins of the British and German coinage re- 
spectively, are worth about a quarter of a dollar; the franc 
(French), the lira (Italian), the peseta (Spanish), the gulden 
(Dutch), and the cro-wn (Austrian) are worth about 20 cents; 
the crown in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, a trifle more 
than a quarter of a dollar; the silver florin in Holland and 
Austria about 40, and the rouble in Russia about 50 cents. 
The abbreviations for florin and franc may be easily con- 
founded when written, so look out for them. French silver 
goes in Belgium and Switzerland. The more common gold 
pieces are 20 shillings, a sovereign or pound, in Great Brit- 
ain ($4.86); 20 francs in France ($3.86); 20 marks in Ger- 
many ($4.76); and 20 crowns in Austria ($4.05). 

In Great Britain ordinary prices are more often given 
in shillings than in pounds. For the larger prices the term 
^‘guinea” is often used, though there is no coin of that de- 
nomination; a guinea means 21 shillings, one more than 
there are in the pound, and is equivalent to about $5.10. The 
crown, of five shillings, is worth about $1.20; the two shil- 
ling piece and the half crown are nearly the same size and 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


191 

are easily confused in the handling; likewise the half-sov- 
ereign and the sixpence may be confused in the dark and 
lead to costly errors. In America we carelessly use the term 
‘‘penny” as the equivalent of a cent; the penny is really 
worth two cents, and the ha’penny is equal to the cent. 

Before going from one country to another, get rid of all 
you can of the currency of the country you are leaving. The 
copper and nickel coins of one country are worthless in all 
others; you might just as well squander them as to carry 
them over the line. There are exchange offices at many 
of the frontier stations, but you can get better rates at the 
money-changers’ “bureaus” in the city from which you de- 
part. Foreign money changers are not always gifted with 
Americans consciences, and frequently need watching. Now 
and then, if you are skilful, you can drive a good bargain 
with one, but as a rule it is safer to deal with a banking 
house. The guide books advise travelers to beware of 
worthless bank notes, and say that especially in Italy there 
are notes afloat that have only depreciated value if any at 
all. The safest course is to give and get gold wherever you 
can. As for myself, I never got caught on anything save 
a Swiss two-franc piece that was undoubtedly genuine, but 
for some reason or other had been tabooed and disowned by 
the Swiss government. 

We are so little accustomed in America to handling gold, 
that it is not hard to make blunders in its use. The pieces 
of 20 shillings, francs, or marks are so near the size of the 
silver shilling, franc, or mark that if you are not careful you 
may find you have paid out at night or when in haste a gold 
piece where you meant to give one of silver. You can guard 
against this by using two purses of different size, invariably 
keeping gold in one, silver in the other; or a purse with an 
inner pocket in which the gold should be kept. 

Some persons, usually of the more timid sex, carry most 
of their money in chamois-skin bags attached to a ribbon 
round the neck; people who travel in barbaric countries get 
oiled-silk bags to wear under the clothing at the waist. But 
such precautions are no more needed in Europe than in 
America. Women can get safety enough by using a pocket 



GOING ABROAD? 


T92 

in the petticoat, which should be hooked, or pinned with a 
safety-pin. The cautious man will keep his letter of credit, 
passport, etc., in an inside vest pocket, fastened likewise with 
the safety-pin. 

GOING THROUGH CUSTOMS HOUSES. 

When landing in any foreign country, and whenever 
you cross the line between any two countries, you must go 
through the tedious farce of a customs house examination. 
It is tedious because it delays the journey from half an hour 
to two hours, at points utterly devoid of interest; and it is 
a farce for about all American tourists because they carry 
nothing on which duty is collected. Liquor, tobacco, and 
food are the things more sought for than anything else, and 
the traveler is likely to carry none of them in dutiable quan- 
tities. 

The trunks are all taken from \/hat we call the baggage 
car and what the English call the luggage van, placed on 
long tables, and opened when you produce the key. If you 
are good-natured and show no uneasiness, the examining 
official will make only the most cursory examination, often 
merely lifting the lid. If you claim two or three trunks, 
frequently you will be asked to open but one; don’t suggest 
which one it shall be, or the official will have another 
opened. 

Some tourists, observing how careless the examinations 
usually are, will foolishly conclude they don’t amount to 
anything and on crossing a frontier at night will not take 
the trouble to get out and open their trunks. The next 
morning they are surprised to learn that the trunks have 
been left at the frontier, and complain because their heed- 
lessness causes them delay, trouble, and expense. 

Frequently it is not necessary to take hand luggage 
from the car racks into the examining room; an official will 
glance into the compartment to see if anything suspicious is 
there, but the ordinary bag or shawl-strap bundle will not 
seem to him worth bothering about. So don’t move your 
luggage till somebody in authority tells you to do it. 

I never knew of anybody’s feeing an examiner in a 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


193 


foreign customs house. So rarely has a tourist anything 
dutiable, that among traveling Americans, at least, the at- 
tempt to bribe is very rare. 

Would that the same thing might be said about home- 
coming Americans! Whether or not the customs authorities 
of American ports are in earnest in their attempts to sup- 
press bribery, the sad fact is that it goes on, though by no 
means to the extent commonly supposed. It goes on and 
public opinion does not suppress it. To dodge taxes and 
to bribe customs house officials, to deceive the assessor and 
the inspector, are venial sins in the eyes of many people 
who would not cheat their neighbors nor steal a cent. 
When public opinion does not frown on a public practice, 
however sinful or criminal that practice may be, it is hypo- 
critical in a writer to content himself with an abstract de- 
nunciation of it. Let me leave the right and wrong of the 
thing to the moralist and take the more practical course of 
pointing out the folly of it. 

To the fashionable woman who tries to smuggle in a 
thousand dollars worth of laces, I have nothing to say. To 
the man who sews diamonds in his clothes, I have nothing to 
say. My advice will be solely to the traveler who brings 
home with him a reasonable amount of clothing and the 
ordinary mementoes and bric-a-brac one picks up in a for- 
eign tour. Such a person wastes every cent he gets stealthily 
into the hands of an inspector. Uncle Sam is not petty and 
inquisitorial in this matter. He seeks to tax only those 
who make large purchases abroad. It would not do for him 
to say in so many words that you can bring in a pack of 
playing cards, but not two packs nor ten packs nor a hun- 
dred packs. But he isn’t going to turn your trunk upside 
down for the sake of finding a solitary pack of cards. He 
is willing you should bring in clothing to an extent and of 
a quality suitable to your station in life; and he says so. He 
is willing you should bring in such curios and souvenirs of 
slight value as you can easily carry in your luggage. When 
his representative, seated in the cabin while the boat is com- 
ing up the harbor, asks you to sign a statement that you have 
nothing dutiable, he knows perfectly well that the chances 


194 


GOING ABROAD? 


are a hundred to one against your being able to make that 
statement and yet tell the truth to the tiniest detail. It is, 
in short, a case where everybody recognizes that the spirit 
of the law is of more importance than the letter. 

Even if you have with you the results of such purchases 
as the framers of tariff legislation meant to reach, it will 
usually be cheaper to pay the duty than to bribe. Suppose 
it does cost you $io or $15 more, isn’t it better to have a 
clear conscience, and besides feeling that you have done the 
square thing to Uncle Sam yourself, know that you have 
tempted none of his employees to violate their oaths, as well 
as run the risk of losing their positions? Pardon this bit 
of moralizing. It is meant merely to emphasize the advice 
I would give to would-be smugglers, the same advice that 
Punch gave to those about to marry, — Don’t. 

Frankness is cheaper than a five dollar bill, and usually 
works just as well, but there is no need to be painfully con- 
fiding to an inspector, to ask him, ‘‘Don’t you think this tor- 
toise shell comb is dutiable?” 

Patience and good nature are the most useful qualities 
in an American customs house as well as in the foreign 
customs house. A smile and a joke get one through quicker 
and easier. If time presses, an express agent will save you 
delay at the moment by sending your trunk through in bond 
to any place you may designate where there is a customs 
house, but in the long run the cost of time will be much 
greater, to say nothing of the express charges. For the 
chances are when you go to get your trunk out of bond, 
you will find an inspector with plenty of time to make a 
thorough examination. Once I tried this; the inspector 
took out every single article of a large and miscellaneous 
collection, spread the whole museum on a table, and went 
through it slowly, simply to make a show of earning his 
salary, I take it, for though there were several things that 
might have been taxed, he didn’t levy a cent of duty. Per- 
haps the fact that the trunk had been sent through in bond 
was enough to make him suspicious that it contained some- 
thing of value I feared the New York inspectors might 
seize. Anyway, it took the best part of a forenoon to ac- 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


>95 

complish what would have been done on the wharf in ten 
minutes had I but waited. 

Abroad, if you s^hculd send a trunk to a steamboat wharf 
in aniother country, it will go in bond and you are not sup- 
posed to open it till it gets on the boat. This may be worth 
while remembering when you pack it. 

The provision as to passengers’ effects in the Dingley 
tariff law at this writing an force in the United States is as 
follows: 

Paragraph 697. Wearing apparel, articles of personal 
adornment, toilet article-s, and similar personal effects of per- 
sons arriving in the United States: but this exemption shall 
only include such articles as actually accompany and are in 
the use of, and as are necessary and appropriate for the wear 
and use of such persons, for the immediate purposes of the 
journey and present comfort and convenience, and shall not 
be held to apply to merchandise or articles intended for 
other persons or for sale: Provided, That in case of residents 
of the United States returning from abroad, all wearing ap- 
parel and other personal effect's taken by them out of the 
United States to foreign countries shall be admitted free of 
duty, without regard to their value, upon their identity being 
established, under appropriate rules and regulations to be 
prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, but no more 
than one hundred dollars in value of articles purchased 
abroad by such residents of the United States shall be ad- 
mitted free of duty upon their return. 

As this provision is interpreted, the effects taken out of 
the country by a resident of the United States may come 
back free at any time, provided their identity is establisihed. 
If, therefore, the resident has any expectation or apprehen- 
sion that his effects may not return on the same boat with 
him, he should file with the collector at the port of departure 
a sworn declaration of what they are. 

The resident who brings back more than $100 in value of 
articles bought abroad may choose which of them shall be 
classed as excess, and will naturally choose those on which 
the lowest rates of duty are levied. If he does not make the 
selection, it is the duty of the 'inspector to reverse the thing 
and assess the articles subject to the highest rate. 

“Resident” is construed to mean anybody who makes a 
journey abroad, and during abs>ence has no fixed place of 


GOING ABROAD? 


196 

abode. A person who has been abroad more than two years, 
and has there had a fixed abode for a year or more, is to be 
considered as a non-resident here. 

No invoices are required for personal effects accom- 
panying the passenger, but it will be well for every traveler 
to have with him and ready for exhibit the bills for any 
articles of consequence he may have bought abroad. Every 
member -of a family is entitled to free entry of $100 worth of 
personal effects, but women's wearing apparel brought by a 
man, or man’s apparel brought by a woman, is not free. 

Especially stringent are the rules against the importa- 
tion of seal-skin garments made of the fur of /seals killed in 
the North Padific ocean since Dec. 29, 1897. Unless it can 
be proved to the contrary, the regulations assume that the 
garment comes under the prohibition, so that any traveler 
who takes a seal-skin garment out of the country is liable to 
its forfeiture unless a certificate describing it has been ob- 
tained from the collector of customs at the port* of depatrture. 

The tariff rates on some of the articles most likely to be 
brought by tourists are as follows, the figures being the per- 
centage “ad valorem” (of the value) unless otherwise indi- 
cated: Bonnets, silk, 60; books, charts, maps, 25; clothing, 

ready-made, cotton, 60, — linen, silk and woolen, 50; dia- 
monds, uncut, free, — cut but not set, 10, — cut and 'set, 60; 
engravings, 25; flowers, artificial, 50; fur, manufactures of, 
35; furniture, wood, 35; glassware, plain and cut, 60; gold, 
manufactures of, not jewelry, 45; jewelry, 60; musical instru- 
ments, 45; paintings and marble statuary, 20; rugs. Oriental, 
10 cts. a square foot and 40 per cervt.; silk laces, wearing ap- 
parel, 60. 

The Dingley law in its relation to passengers’ effects and 
the methods used in its enforcement at the port of New 
York have been the subject of the severest strictures at the 
hands of the New York Evening Post and its adherents. Un- 
doubtedly the annoyances at first were considerable, but they 
were in large measure due to the inclination of many trav- 
elers to violate a law that the customs officials were in duty 
bound to enforce. As usual, the instruments of the law in- 
.curred the odium that should attach to the makers of the law. 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


197 


if to anybody. Whether the regulations are or are not need- 
lessly stringent, no honest man who believes in fair play can 
reprove the serious attempt to stop the bribery of inspectors 
on New York Wharves. It is our national hope that we live 
in a country where there is not one law for the rich and an- 
other for the poor, a hope that wanes wherever officials can 
be bought. The bribe-taker and the bribe-giver are equally 
an offence and a menace in a democracy. 

In Great Britain dutiable goods are tobacco, wines, liquors, 
tea, coffee, cocoa and Florida water. Each passenger may 
take in free a flask 'of spirits and half a pound of tobacco for 
private use. Up to three pounds of tobacco may be passed 
on payment of a duty of five shillings a pound, with the addi- 
tion in the matter of cigars of a slight fine for contravention 
of the law forbidding the importation in chests of less than 
10,000. A broken box of cigars will go through without 
trouble. Foreign reprints of English copyrighted books and 
music are absolutely confiscated, and therefore Tauchnitz 
editions and the pirated American editions will be seized if 
seen. Fire arms and ammunition cannot be landed in Ire- 
land unless declared to customs, and then they will be de- 
tained until a magistrate's warrant to carry them has 
been granted. Dogs are not allowed to land without a li- 
cense previously obtained from the B-oard of Agriculture, 4, 
Whitehall Place, London, S. W. 

In France, tobacco, wines and liquors are subject to 
duty. Matches are strictly prohibited and lialble to confisca- 
tion. Flousehold goods and wearing apparel are admitted 
6 

free, with but few if any questions asked. The penalty for 
faise declarations is heavy. The duty on ordinary tobacco 
is $3 <a kilogramme (2 1-5 lbs.); on Turkish tobacco, $5; on 
cigars and cigarettes, $7.20. The traveler is allowed to take 
in free not more than 20 cigars or half a pound of tobacco, 
and is liable to a fine of five times the duty if they are not 
declared. I suspect, however, that very few broken boxes 
of cigars pay any duty. 

Italy is harder yet on the simoker, allowing free entry to 
only I 1-3 oz. of toibacco. Travelers found in possession of 
more than this anywhere in Italy are liable to a fine of about 


GOING ABROAD? 


198 

$14 if they cannot prove that the duty has 'been paid. This, 
however, is more terrifying than dangerous; one might run 
greater risk in venturing to smoke an Italian cigar. 

In Germany, Switzerland and Belgium, the only articles 
subject to duty which travelers would be likely to carry, are 
tobacco and spirits, and on these the duty is trifling. In the 
Netherlands, tobacc'o, spirits and ail articles usually carried 
by travelers are admitted free. 

FOREIGN PRICES. 

Everybody goes abroad for the first time 'with the ex- 
pectation that everything can be bought there to better ad- 
vantage than at home. This is not the iaot. On the con- 
trary, Europe sells few things more cheaply, taking quality 
into account as well as price. 

The mo'st common misconception is in the matter of 
English clothes for men. Plenty of tailors in London offer 
to make a business suit for twelve or fifteen dollars; $25 
would be a price far above the average. Compared with the 
New York range of prices, from $25 to $40, London seems 
to be giving away clothes. But even though the cloth may 
equal or surpass that offered in New York of corresponding 
grade, the workmanship is poor and the fit is abominable, 
except that given by a few of the high-priced West End 
shops. A friend tells me that once he traveled for two weeks 
on the Continent in a suit that bad been quickly made in 
London, which disclosed such a wealth of white linen be- 
tween trousers and vest that he had to keep the lowest button 
of the coat buttor^ed all the time. Then be gave the suit 
away to a hotel portier. 

I asked a London tailor wby he didn’t make better 
clothes. ‘‘Because,” he answered, “you people have taken all 
our best workmen.” 

My friend bought a meerschaum pipe in Munich and 
thought he had a bargain. When he got back to Boston a 
pipe merchant offered to duplicate it for fifty cents less; he 
maintained that the best meerschaum pipe makers have come 
across to America. 

Furthermore, our leading merchanlts vie with each other 
in offering imported goods, and competition has reduced to 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


199 


a minimum their profits on all standard lines. Indeed, no 
small part of the income of ocean steamers comes from 
the buyers who are sent across the water to get fabrics and 
other merchandise. Says one of them: “We go direct to the 
factories and buy their goods and pay duty on the wholesale 
price, and then by selling at a close margin of profit can 
come very near duplicating the prices demanded ‘by the 
sihopkeepers along the fashionable thoroughfares of Europe.” 

It would be almost safe to make the general assertion 
that Europe excels us now only in products requiring an 
artis-tic environment, peculiar properties of soil or climate, 
or the labor ot work people so poor that they cannot emi- 
grate. Gooid paintings would naturally -be cheaper where 
museums abound and art students congregate, than in 
American cities. With the climatic conditions of Northern 
Italy particularly adapted to the mulberry and the silk-worm, 
it is not surprising to find silks cheaper in Milan than in 
Chicago. The hand-made laces of Belgium and Venice can- 
not be approached in countries where girls will not work for 
a pittance. 

In nearly everything requiring the use of machinery, 
American prices are the better for the buyer. In boots and 
shoes, for instance, Massachusetts can undersell the world. 
In watches we can match any European products except 
perhaps those of Geneva, where generations of hand work- 
men have accumulated a fund of skilled knowledge that 
enables the place to sell to foreigners on the strength of 
superiority in some details, though not in all, — possibly in 
none of those concerning the watch that would be bought 
by the mass of mankind. 

WHERE TO BUY SPECIALTIES TO ADVANTAGE. 

It is chiefly by reason of specialties that European shop- 
ping can rightfully attract American buyers, not alone be- 
cause special application to any one industry by a large part 
of the people of a locality is sure to make its price cheap, 
but also because an excess of production results in greater 
latitude for selection. Geneva may again illustrate, for be- 
sides watches, it makes a specialty oi music boxes, and no- 


200 


GOING ABROAD? 


where else can you find such a variety at sudh cheap prices. 
Of other specialties the tourist will do well to huy — 

Tortoise shell, coral and lava, in Naples. 

Wood carving, in Switzerland, the Black Forest, Sor- 
rento, Norway and Sweden. 

Olive wood articles at the Italian Lakes. 

Silver and gold filagree work, in Genoa. 

Cameos, mosaics, and many other kinds of ornaments, in 
Florence, Venice, and Rome, — Florence being the cheapest. 

Pearls and turquoises, in Rome and Florence. 

The cheaper stones, — ^amethysts, topaz, cairngorns, etc., 
— in Switzerland and Scotland. 

Toilet articles, — soaps, perfumes, sponges, etc., — in the 
German cities, and in Paris. 

Venetian glass, of course, in Venice. 

Artistic plaster, in Paris. 

Hammered brass, in Northern Africa. 

Porcelain pictures, in Lucerne and Dresden. 

Letter paper, in London. 

■Umbrellas, in Milan or Switzerland. 

Artificial flowers, in Paris. 

Furs, in Germany or Scandinavia. 

Woolen underwear, in London and Germany. 

Silk underwear, in Sorrento, Milan and France. 

Gloves, in Naples, Genoa, Milan, Paris and London. 

Linen handkerchiefs, etc., in Belfast. 

Embroidery, in Rennes and other Breton towns. 

Laces, in Venice, Seville and Belgium, the prices for 
real Valenciennes 'being somewhat lower in Bruges and 
Ghent than in Antwerp and Brussels. 

Silks, in Lyons and in Genoa, Milan and other places in 
Northern Italy. Visitors often buy in the Italian Lake totwns 
plaid silk shawls to take home for waists; a Shawl large 
enough to furnish material for a blouse may generally be 
bought for less than an equal amount of silk sold by the 
yard. 

Cutlery, old silverware, and Sheffield plate, in London. 

Engravings and all reproductions, in Berlin. 

It will be noticed that in the foregoing list the names 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


201 


\of Italian cities predominate. It is the general rule abroad 
that as you go South, prices drop. The easier it is to live, 
the lower the price the workman will take. And the easier 
it is to live, the more children and so the more competition 
for work. That is why Italy abounds ia bargains. Tariffs 
and taxes appear to affect the matter very little. Neither 
free trader nor protectionist can justifiably be made more 
partisan by a journey through Europe. Rather he is likely 
to return with the impression that the tariff is a less im- 
portant political issue than he had supposed. When you can 
buy things cheaper in high-tariff and tax-ridden Italy than 
in no-tariff England, and when Hollan'd without any industry 
to protect is the dearest country of all, what can you argue? 

Explain, too, if you can, why Paris should be one of 
the costliest places in the world. It would be equally hard 
to explain w'hy all America thinks Paris the cheapest place 
in the world, and why it is the mecca of every fair shopper. 
To be sure, its dressmakers set the fashion for all woman- 

I 

kind, though its women are not the best dressed, that honor 
belonging to the Americans, who with their own good taste 
modify Parisian ideas. Outside the costuming esftablish- 
ments, as a shopping city it does not begin to compare with 
New York. It hasn’t so many elegant shops, the shop win- 
dows are not so attractive, the system of doing business is 
not so convenient, and the prices are not so reasonable. In 
neither of its two great department stores, the Bon Marche 
and the Louvre, did I notice any department excelling in 
variety or quality of stock similar departments in the big 
stores of Boston. Americans who dwell in Paris will unani- 
mously advise their countrymen, and particularly their 
countrywomen, to buy necessary things anywhere else rather 
than there. 

Particularly in the matter of all cotton goods is it waste- 
ful for the traveler to postpone expenditure till the ocean 
has been crossed. We grow the cotton, we have the best 
mills, and we undersell the world. In all footwear, too, we 
are in the lead, foreign boots and shoes of equal quality being 
higher in price, inferior in style, and less comfortable in fit. 

In the art of window dressing our merchants have gone 


202 


GOING ABROAD? 


far ahead of those in Paris, London, and all other foreign 
cities. This is chiefly due to a diff'erence in shopping 
methods. In London, for example, it is common for buyers 
to go from window to window till they see what they want, 
and so the merchant crowds into his window as many things 
as he can, regardless of the general effect. 

The department stores to be found in London, Paris 
and a few other cities have fixed prices, but save in Germany 
they are almost the only foreign stores that do. The farther 
South you go, the more you must beat down, and by the time 
you reach Oriental countries, a quarter of the price de- 
manded is what should be given; be patient and firm, and 
you will get the article at that figure. In the smaller Italian 
stores the proprietor can be forced down from a quarter to 
a third; if you give him what he asks, he is ashamed of him- 
self for not having asked more. In the larger stores, a dis- 
count of ten or fifteen per cent, is not hard to get. Swiss 
prices fluctuate according to 'the persistence of the buyer. 
Bargaining is half the fun of buying laces in Brussels. 

Do not proclaim that you are an American. On this 
point deceive the shop-keeper if your knowledge of the lan- 
guage will let you. Foolish Americans have spread abroad 
the notion that all Americans are fabulously rich, and prices 
jump up the moment a customer’s American origin is be- 
trayed. A friend among the natives of the city where you 
may be can save you considerable amounts by buying for 
you what you have decided to purchase. 

I had gathered the impression while touring in Germany 
that it was an exception to the Continental rule of a flexible 
price-list, and that the same charges prevailed for native and 
foreigner, but I am informed that in all German cities where 
Americans reside in any number, such as Berlin and Dresden, 
they are systematically overcharged from 30 to 60 per cent, 
in everything. Moreover, it is asserted that German courts 
do not deal out even-handed justice in matters where trades- 
people are at issue with foreigners. As for that, litigation is 
not cheerful for the American anywhere on the Continent. 
For instance, the story goes that in Venice an American 
visited a dealer in antique furniture and saw a very beautiful 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


203 


set of carved furniture. The price was 12,000 lire. He 
ordered a duplicate of the set which was on exhibition, and 
as a guaranty of his responsibility paid the dealer 2,000 lire. 
The dealer pocketed the money and never filled the order. 
The American consul attempted to compel him to manufac- 
ture the goo<ds and forward them, but he insolently refused 
to do so and he also refused to return the money. The 
courts showed no disposition to help the American and the 
money was lost. 

On the other hand, many a Continental shop-keeper will 
tell you that no American ever cheated him. As a conse- 
quence it is easy for an American to get trusted. But the 
credit practice is as foolish abroad as it is at home; every- 
where a cash bargain is the better for the Buyer. In certain 
German towns they are quick to imprison foreigners if it is 
suspected that they intend leaving the country before settling 
their accounts. 

The confidence of the European shop-keeper astonishes 
the American. Tradespeople never refuse to send goods to 
a hotel for inspection, and frequently invite the opportunity. 
The milliners of London and Paris will gladly deliver a 
dozen boxes of hats that one may keep a day before selecting, 
and apparently have not the least fear that a few hours’ wear 
will be borrowed. Likewise they will deliver shoes, under- 
wear, anything else; if you don’t like it, return it. The Bon 
Marche in Paris won some of its reputation by the rule that 
uninjured goods may be returned at any time in exchange 
for the original price, and instances are told of returns made 
a year after the purchase. Though so much leniency is not 
universal, it is the custom abroad to refund the money for 
goods returned. 

Seldom is any deposit asked for goods that are ordered 
for future delivery. In Rennes we were in bicycle costume, 
with no luggage in sight except w'hat was on our w^heels, 
and yet the embroidery merchant seemed pleased to take an 
order without deposit for some articles to overtake us by 
mail, that we were not to accept if they did not suit our 
fancy, though the making of them meant several days of 
labor. 


204 


GOING ABROAD? 


I hear a good deal of grumbling about purchases made 
abroad and shipped direct to an American address, not be^ 
cause of the dealer’s bad faith, but because of the charges 
for broker’s commission, warehouse storage, cartage, steam- 
ship transportation, tariff, freight, and so on, which make it 
extravagant to buy abroad in this manner anything that can 
be duplicated at home, no matter how alluring may be the 
foreign prices. The dealer’s assurance that the article will be 
safely delivered in Chicago, New Orleans or where you 
please, is all right, and perhaps he believes what he says 
when he declares that the cost will be trifling, but that is not 
the fact. 

Never take a guide or professional interpreter when you 
go shopping on the Continent; he will always get a commis- 
sion on what you buy, and it will come out of you. All the 
big stores have somebody who speaks Englisih. In the little 
shops, if you haven’t mastered the oral use of the numerals 
of the country (which should be your first duty on entering 
it), a pencil and paper will bring into play the Arabic numer- 
als, common to all civilized lands. 

Collectors of curios and antiques must everywhere 
abroad be on their guard against deception. The Germans 
have large and prosperous factories for making antique 
lamps, corroded bronzes, rusty swords, battered armor, an- 
cient potteries, all sorts of relics, and these are shipped to 
the appropriate place for their sale. It is said that a German 
factory is hard pressed to supply the bullets that are dug up 
on the battlefield of Waterloo. The Turkish fez is made in 
Germany. 

Beware the Saturday half-holiday in England. It is 
universal the year round, as much observed as Sunday, so 
don’t count on doing any shopping then. No business is 
done on the four Bank Holidays, — Easter Monday, Whit 
Monday, the firs't Monday in August, and December 26. 

Most important of all shopping advice to the tourist is 
this: Buy what you want when you see it. Don’t indulge 

the Amer'ican tendency to wait a while in the hope of finding 
the same thing at a better price. Nine times out of ten you 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


205 


will n'ot come across it again. So wthen a thing strikes your 
fancy and the price is not exorbitant, take it then and there. 

SOUVENIRS AND PHOTOGRAPHY. 

To spend money on souvenirs lacking utility may be 
folly, but it is charming folly. Given to friends, presents 
from abroad that may not have cost a franc are prized as if 
they we*re jewels, partly because of the glamour that sur- 
rounds everything European, partly because they show that 
distance did not drown friendship. Kept by yourself, me- 
mentoes of travel refresh its memories; they are needed 
even though it may seem to the traveler when entranced by 
foreign scenes that he can never forget them. Photographs 
best serve this purpose, and he does well who is lavish in 
their purchase. 

Many travelers on returning regret that they bought 
photographs of different sizes, for it is hard to preserve 
them attractively in an album or any other form. As many 
disirable views cannot be found in any other but the com- 
mon 8 X TO size, it is preferable to get them all of those 
dimensions. Of course they should be bought unmounted, 
the cards being awkward and bulky to pack. Those that 
cost half a franc (ten cents) in Italy will cost a franc in 
Paris and a shilling in London. In Switzerland they are 
cheaper than in Paris, and dearer than in Italy, but better 
than either Paris or Italy. Indeed, to my mind, the Swiss 
photographs are the bes*! ordinarily exposed for sale in 
Europe. By going to the maker you can get the widest 
scope for selection, and fresher pictures than those to be 
found on the shop counters, but that is not important 
enough to warrant inconvenience. 

Since the hand camera using films has been perfected, 
it is worth while taking your own views, but not of places 
of which you can buy photographs. It is foolish for the 
amateur to start out with the idea of photographing all the 
fine buildings and beautiful landscapes he may see; in nine 
cases out of ten his pictures will cosit more and be poorer 
than those he might buy. 

At home it is well enough to experiment and practice; 
abroad time is too precious for that. So it is more impor- 


206 


GOING ABROAD? 


taitt to snap the shutter at views with personal interest than 
at those with artistic value; the outlook from your hotel 
window, a country railway station, the flower market, a 
peasant costume, the diligence in which you crossed an Al- 
pine pass, glimpses from a railway car, the Strand or the 
Avenue de I’Opera at mid-day, a Neapolitan cab-driver, your 
hotel at Venice, — such are the subjects that will always 
pleasantly refresh your own memory and make your descrip- 
tions more enjoyable to the friends at home. Tliiese friends 
will be bored if you talk about the Louvre, the Falls of the 
Rhine, the Panthecn, St. Mark’s, — what they want to hear 
about is the life abroad, and an impertinent beggar arouses 
their interest more than the Venus de Medici. So if you 
take pictures for any but a purely selfish purpose, always 
have life in them, and the more odd and grotesque that life, 
Ihe better. For that matter every photograph should have a 
living being in it, — man, woman, child, or animal, — both for 
the sake of animation and to give the eye a standard of 
measurement. Don’t be afraid of getting too near your sub- 
ject. 

It is not worth while to carry abroiad a camera using 
plates; the film camera is bulky enough, goodness knows, 
and many a time you will wdsh it at the bottom of the sea, 
yet on the whole you will be glad of having taken it. The 
4x5 size best combines good work and portability-, but 
after trying it on one tour and a ^‘folding pocket” on an- 
other, I incline toward the smaller one on the score of con- 
venience, particularly if it is to be carried on a bicycle. Its 
pictures do not average so well in excellence, but they serve 
the purpose, that is, they suffice to recall the s»cenes and to 
help entertainment. Larger sizes than the 4x5 are cumber- 
some and fatiguing. Films can be secured in any large city 
of Europe, but a connoisseur advised me to get them all here 
unless a trip of many months w^as contemplated, as he said 
that though the foreign films are made from the same for- 
mula, somehow they do not produce so good results. As a 
precaution, however, it will be wise before starting to get 
from the American manufacturers lists of their foreign 
agencies. If the films are taken from here, have them deliv- 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


207 


ered in tin canisters, to protect them from the dampness of 
the sea voyage. If the larger rolls are taken, better expose 
two or three from each roll before starting, and develop them, 
to make sure that they are perfect. The man who has never 
used a hand camera does a very foolish thing if he starts ofif 
on a long journe}" without any preliminary practice. It is all 
very well to advertise, “You push the button and we do the 
rest,*' but pushing the button isn’t all of it by any means. 
The combinations of speed of shutter and sizes of stops re- 
quire a clear understanding and some experience before the 
best results are attained. The art is not difficult; it is an easy 
thing to use a hand camera after you know how; but even 
the simplest processes will confuse a novice. And it is a pity 
to carry a camera over all Europe, go to the bother of hunt- 
ing for good subjects and come back to find that through 
ignorance of some apparently trivial thing, you have spoiled 
half your films. When intelligent people beginning to use 
a camera, in spite of the plainest directions, will point it 
Toward the source of light, or press the button without re- 
mioving the dust slide or cap, it seeni's clear that a little teach- 
ing by experience is essential. 

It is often thought that in buying a camera the securing' 
of a good lens is the all-important thing, and that the mech- 
anism of the shutter is a minor detail. I didn’t think so 
when my shutter refused to work in the Alhambra, a place 
of all places where a camera in good condition seemed most 
desirable. It turned out that the wooden base of the shutter 
mechanism had been swollen during the ocean voyage so 
that something was thrown out of gear, and a camera that 
had done long and excellent work in America was for a 
while not W'orth a cent. Nobody could be found with 
knowledge enoug'h of hand cameras to repair this one, a,nd 
it w'as weeks before my own struggle with the thing in spare 
moments got that shutter into condition again. Moral: 
Have your camera thoroughly examined by an expert in 
such matters before you start. 

Wherever there is a film agency, you can get your films 
developed, but the foreign work in this line is not equal to 
the American, and it is better to wait till you get back. Yet, 


208 


GOING ABROAD? 


it may be wise to have one or two films developed now and 
then, to see that the shutter is working right and that the 
film has not beeen damaged. 

POST, EXPRESS AND TELEGRAPH. 

All European countries, as well as the United States and 
Canada, are now in the Postal Union, and the rates from any 
one country to any other are virtually the same, correspond- 
ing in the coinage of the country in question to the following 
on mail matter sent from the United States: — 


Letters, each half ounce 5 cts. 

Postal cards 2 cts. 

Newspapers, books, and other printed matter, each 

two ounces 1 ct. 

Commercial papers: 

Packets not in excess of ten ounces, for each two 
ounces or fraction thereof 5 cts. 

Packets in excess of ten ounces, for each two 
ounces or fraction thereof 1 ct. 

Samples of merchandise: 

Packets not in excess of four ounces 2 cts. 

Packets in excess of four ounces, for each two 
ounces or fraction thereof 10 cts. 

Registration fee on letters or other articles 10 cts. 


In the States we have for some time been accustomed 
to an ounce as tbe weight limit on the minimum letter rate, 
and do not at first appreciate how in foreign correspondence 
the half ounces count up, at five cents apiece. But a lesson 
or two will soon teach the wanderer the wisdom of falling 
into the general habit abroad, of using thin paper and light 
envelopes for the letters sent home. But those who would 
conform to the usage of society would hardly employ that 
sort of paper in answering invitations or in any formal cor- 
respondence with persons in the country where the letter 
was written. 

Postal cards are a great convenience to those who feel 
tinder obligations to keep their relatives constantly informed 
as to their whereabouts and welfare. They are easily carried, 
easily handled, and When closely written can convey a sur- 
prising amount of information. Be careful, though, that you 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


209 


buy neither cards nor stamps beyond the quantity you are 
likely to use in the country where you may be, for they are 
useless in any other country. The Postal Union will not 
be perfect till its cards and stamps can be used anywhere 
within its limits. 

If postage is not fully prepaid on matter going from one 
place in the United States to another in the same country, 
only the balance due is collected of the receiver. But on 
matter going from one country to another, twice the balance 
due is collected. That is, if your home correspondent puts 
on a 2-cent stamp instead of a 5-cent stamp, you must pay 
6 cents to get the letter. This seldom means much on let- 
ters, but on merchandise and printed matter it may amount 
to a good deal for the youth studying abro'ad -on a very 
small allowance. Stories are told, at the same time laugh- 
able and pathetic, of heavy excess postage payments on 
Christmas cards and gifts, amounting to much more than 
the original cost of the articles. Of course thoughtful 
people will always prepay all mail matter, and will be equally 
careful to enclose a stamp when asking a reply from any 
stranger. 

When you send home books, periodicals, newspapers, 
or manuscript not personal in nature (which go at printed 
matter rate), be sure that the parcel is open at both ends, 
and tied with a string, so that it can be examined if the cus- 
toms officials so wish. Merchandise must also be packed 
so that it can be examined. In England, at any rate, and I 
presume in all other countries, every parcel going out of the 
country must have a customs declaration respecting the con- 
tents; this must be on a form obtainable at any Post Office; 
the duties cannot be prepaid, but are collected on delivery. 
Articles of trivial value will probably run the gauntlet with- 
out interference. No cautious shipper ever sends a package 
by mail or in any other manner without having his own ad- 
dress on it, that he may stand some chance of recovering the 
goods in case the person addressed cannot be found. In the 
United Kingdom compensation for loss or damage to an 
amount not exceeding $10 will be given without payment of 
any speciail fee, if a certificate of poiating has been obtained. 


2 lO 


GOING ABROAD? 


The safest way to have one’s mail come is in care of a 
banker; next in point of safety are pensions; next, hotels. 
‘Tos'te restante” is understood everyw'here as t'he equivalent 
of our “General Delivery.” For letters it is commonly safe, 
thoug'h it may be bothersome if the postmaster chooses to 
demand identification. This rarely happens, but when it does, 
the passport comes in handy. To have parcels or newspapers 
addressed to the Poste Restante is not safe. For several 
weeks of a bicycle tour in France I failed to receive a single 
newspaper so addressed, though many were sent to me; and 
though the officials repeatedly averred that there was no in- 
tention to abuse the newspaper mail, my belief is that my 
papers were all thrown away in the office of receipt. As 
soon as I returned to the use of bankers’ addresses, the pa- 
pers began reaching me all right. Bankers are exceedingly 
obliging in these matters; they will send letters or papers 
after one from place to place over all the Continent till they 
catch up with the traveler. The tourist agencies are not so 
certain in this regard, at any rate in the summer time, for 
though doubtless their intentions are of the best, they are 
then so over-worked that what probably seems the least im- 
portant thing, the mail, gets slighted. By the way, when 
calling for mail at the Poste Restante, you would better 
write your name and hand it in through the wicket. Just 
remember how hard you find it to understand a foreign name 
when spoken to yourself. 

Letter writing is as great a nuisance to the tourist as 
letter receiving is a delight. If one could only convince his 
home friends that it is so much better for them to give than 
to receive, that they ought to permit the correspondence to 
be wholly one-sided, many an hour would no«t be begrudged 
from seeing, studying, or resting. The novice in travel is 
profuse in promises to write, and seldom keeps them. Let 
the stay-at-home have charity. 

The Postoffice Department calculates on 8 days for the 
transmission of mail from New York to London, Paris or 
Bremen; lo days to Glasgow; and as follows to other Eu- 
ropean cities by way of London: 9 days to Amsterdam, Ant- 
werp, Berlin, Hamburg, Madrid, Rome, Rotterdam; 10 days 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


2II 


to St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Vienna; ii days to Constanti- 
nople; 12 days to Athens; 13 days to Alexandria. 

Letters or telegrams sent to passengers on the Atlantic 
liners should be addressed in care of the Company, and bear 
the name of steamer and date of sailing. Otherwise they will 
be held at the office until claimed unless by happy chance the 
name is recognized as that of a passenger, which will be sel- 
dom. Letters intended to reach passengers by mail steamers 
touching at Queenstown on the way to America, should be 
addressed “in care of the commander” of the boat in ques- 
tion, and should in Great Britain be posted as registered let- 
ters not later than the morning of the day the boat is to 
leave Liverpool. 

Europe has no express system corresponding precisely 
with ours; that is to say, it has no large express companies 
that monopolize the quick transportation of parcels unac- 
companied by the owner. Part of the work is done by the 
various governments through a development of the parcels 
post system that the Lffiited States has not yet adopted; part 
of it is done by the railroad companies themselves; a small 
part of it is done by forwarding agents, who stand more in the 
position of shippers and receivers than in that of transporters. 

Our uniform merchandise mail rate of a cent an ounce 
with a 4-pound limit contrasts markedly with the English 
rates, rang'ing from 6 cents for a pound or less to 24 cents 
for II pounds, the limit, and still more with the Swiss rates, 
by which to send a 44-pound package costs only 30 cents, 
and it is cheaper to send almost anything portable by post 
than in any other way. To mail a traveling bag in Switzer- 
land is common. 

The railways of Great Britain have two rate-scales for 
parcels and m.erchandise, one applying if they are forwarded 
by passenger train, the other if by goods train, or what we 
call freight train. Likewise there is a double classification on 
the Continent, for forwarding by “grande vitesse,” — big 
quickness,- -^as it is called in France; or by “petite vitesse,” 
— little quickness. The “big quickness” has little quickness 
enough, goodness knows. A slangy American would say 
that one way was slow, and the other dead slow, 


I 


212 GOING ABROAD? 

The Eritrsh prices for forwarding by passenger train ^ 

range from 8 cents for 2 lbs. any distance, to 60 cents for 24 
lbs. going 200 miles. This is lower than our express rates 
on small packages, and higher on the large packages. Con- 
tinental roads figure it in the same way, taking both weight 
and distance into account, with rates of the same general 
range. Freight rates, “petite vitesse,” are of course much 
lower, but it is not safe to use them if delivery more than a 
month later would be embarrassing. Though the goods may 
go through in two or three days, it is more likely to take as 
many weeks, and instances of as many months are not un- 
known. 

As the railroads cater for a parcels business, they main- 
tain many receiving offices. The London & Northwestern, 
for example, has nearly 40 scattered through London, 60 in 
Birmingham. As with our express system, parcels are called 
for on notification at any of these offices, and delivered, with- 
out extra charge. Paris, too, is dotted with receiving offices 
of the railroads, and in all the cities one can find a bureau in 
the business centre where he can arrange about forwarding 
things without having to go to the station, which is usually 
on the edge of the town. . 

There are a few large concerns doing the business of 
forwarding agents. Their chief service to the tourist consists 
in the combination of storing with forwarding, and in their 
care of customs matters where things are sent across a boun- 
dary. For storing a trunk in London one of these concerns 
charged me a shilling a month. For attending to transporta- 
tion their fee in addition <to the transporting charge is equally 
reasonable. But implicit faith is no more to be put in them 
than in one of our express companies. For instance, two 
young women who had ordered a trunk forwarded to Liver- 
pool and held till the time they were to sail, sent directions 
early enough by mail as to the boat on which it w^as to be 
put. They reached Idverpool on Saturday afternoon, — the 
half-holiday time, — to find no trunk on the steamer and the j 

place of ithe forwarding agent closed. Messengers hunted 
•for him in vain and the young women perforce returned to 
the United States without any trunk. We sympathized with 

0 

'I 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL. 


213 


them and fellow passengers lent them things, but they were 
not happy, and no wonder. Such mischances are rare, but 
they do happen now and then to people who put a blind 
faith in Providence and run for luck. 

When a forwarding agent is asked to send a trunk or 
any locked article across a frontier, be sure to give him the 
key that the customs authorities may examine the contents. 
He is responsible for seeing that nothing is purloined in the 
course of this process. The key is not needed when you 
forward anything by a railway company “in bond,'’ such as 
a trunk from Paris, addressed in care of the steamer at the 
foreign port from which you are to sail. By the way, pur- 
chases or clothing found to be superfluous can be forwarded 
to the steamship office at your sailing port and will there be 
held till you call for them. 

Of course one should be careful that his trunk or parcel 
is properly labelled or tagged, with label or tag likely to stay 
in place. If charges are prepaid, it is wise to see that the 
label is properly stamped to this effect, or to notify the con- 
signee. Carelessness in this regard cost me double on a bag 
sent from London to a Liverpool hotel. It is just as well 
not to prepay. Luggage thus sent to a hotel will be paid for 
by the landlord, who will take the chances of your turning 
up to reimburse him. 

One need be less on his guard against double-charging 
and imposition in Norway and Sweden than anywhere else. 
Dishonesty there is the rare exception. A vehicle broke 
down between post stations and there was nothing to do but 
pile the luggage beside the road and walk on to the next 
station. “But this baggage,” expostulated the American, 
“will it be safe?” 

Scanning the heavens, the Norwegian driver replied: “I 
don’t think it will rain.” 

He could imagine no other danger. 

The best way to transmit money from one country to 
another in any amount up to $100 is by international money 
order; it is safe to reckon on a cost of a cent for each dollar 
transmitted, with minimum cost of 10 cents. Money may be 


214 


GOING ABROAD? 


sent home in this way, or the remitter can send express 
orders. To cable money is rather costly. 

In the matter of the telegraph, as well as in that of the 
parcel post, the European is far ahead of us, at least in the 
matter of cost, though the publicists who contend for the 
private cxwnership of the telegraph and telephone maintain 
that our plan secures the more efficient service. But whether 
or not the foreigner gets his telegrams transmitted as quickly 
and accurately, certainly the work is done for him at a price 
which makes the use of the wire far more common than 
with us. Telegrams may be sent from any one place in the 
United Kingdom to any other therein at the rate of 12 cents 
for the first 12 words, and a cent for each additional word; 
to France, Germany, Holland or Be'lgium for 4 cents a 
word; to Switzerland, Italy or Austria for 6 cents a word; to 
Spain for 8 cents a word. 

In Great Britain the address of the receiver is charged 
for, but not that of the sender when written on the back of 
the telegraph form. The charge includes delivery within the 
town postal limits, or within oue mile of a head office; be- 
yond that limit the charge is 12 cents a mile for the first three 
miles; if three or more miles, at the rate of 24 cents a mile 
from the office door. In France telegrams cost a cent a 
word with a minimum charge of 10 cents, and the rate is not 
much higher in any of the European countries commonly 
visited. 

All the European cities have telephone systems, and 
there is a long-distance telephone from London to Paris, but 
how much farther the system may by this time have been 
extended, I am not informed. 

Cable rates between New York City and the principal 
countries of Europe are: Belgium, France, Germany, Great 
Britain, Holland, 25 cents a word; Switzerland, 30 cents; 
Italy and Sicily, 32; Austria and Hungary, 34; Denmark and 
Norway, 35; Malta, Servia and Roumania, 36; Turkey, 37; 
Greece, 38; Sweden and Portugal, 39; Spain, 40; Gibraltar 
and Russia, 43. To these must be added the American tele- 
graph tolls from the seaboard, and the foreign tolls from the 
chief city. The address and signature are included in the 


SOMEWHAT FINANCIAL 


215 


charg'eable matter, and the length of words is limited to fif- 
teen letters; when a word is composed of more t'han that, 
every additional fifteen letters or fractions thereOif will be 
counted as a word. To save expense in the matter of address, 
it is the custom ito file at your home office any combination 
of letters chosen arbitrarily, with which your street address, 
or that of your business house, relative, or friend is regis- 
tered. For example, before leaving home go to the telegraph 
office and direct that any message coming for “Smilax, Bos- 
ton,’’ or New York, or wherever it maybe, shall be delivered 
to sudh-and-such an address. Further economy is secured 
by the use of a cable code, wherein words are indexed to 
signify whole sentences, or at least a considerable part of 
sentences. If. you have one copy and your correspondent its 
mate, lon*g messages can thus be transmitted by the use of 
a very few words. The ground is admirably covered by The 
Adams Gable Codex, which is published by F. O. Houghton 
8 z Co., General Shipping Agents, 115 State St., Boston, at 25 
and 50 cents, and will be forwarded by them on receipt of 
price; or it may be ordered of the publishers of this volume. 

In this Codex is a word signifying a requesit to the pub- 
lishers to translate the other words of the message and for- 
ward them to whatever address may be desirable. So if one 
desires to communicate with anybody not having a Codex, 
he has but to cable the significant word to the 
cable address of F. O. Houghton & Co., with the 
other code words of his message. The cost qf the 
book is saved several times over on the first message 
you may send informing anxious friends of your safe arrival, 
and though you may not need to use it again, yet if the oc- 
casion arises, as from sickness at borne, business necessities, 
or shortage of funds, the saving will be very considerable. 


CHAPTER IX. 

PERSONALITIES. 

Passports are no longer necessary on the ordinary routes 
of European travel, though indispensable in Russia and the 
Turkish dominions, including Egypt and Palestine. They 
are almost never of use in England, but are occasionally de- 
sirable on the Continent, and when wanted at all, are wanted 
very much. An American may wander through Europe for 
a year without ever having occasion to prove his identity, 
but if the occasion does arise, it is urgent. The trouble and 
cost of getting a passport are slig^ht, and it is just as well to 
have one. The passport agent’s or banker’s fee can be 
easily saved by getting a blank application from Washington 
for nothing; it will be forwarded if you send request to the 
Passport Division, State Department; or if you are in a large 
city, you can get one at a law stationer’s for a few cents. 
Fill it out, swear to it before a notary or justice of the peace 
(who may charge you 50 cents if you are a stranger), and 
then forward it with the fee of ? dollar to the State Depart- 
ment, which in due time will send you the passport. Better 
attend to it two or three weeks before sailing, but if you 
should overlook the matter till late, have it sent to you at 
the port of departure in care of the steamer on which you 
are to sail. (By the way, any letters thus addressed are 
almost sure to reach you, and it is a pleasure to hear from 
home the last thing before the steamer sails.) 

If you find yourself abroad without a passport and get 
into trouble by reason of its lack, apply at once for help to 
the nearest American consul. If you want to apply for a 
passport while abroad, do it through the chief diplomatic 
representative of the United States in the country where 
you may be; in his absence, through the consul-general or 
consul. If a passport is lost, a duplicate can be secured 
from the State Department without filling out a new blank. 

216 


PERSONALITIES. 


217 


An English consul in Germany says that anyone who 
intends making a long stay there, especially in Prussia, will 
find it absolutely necessary to have a passport, as, according 
to the police regulations, house-owners, lodging-house 
keepers, etc., are bound to report within three days the ar- 
rival of any stranger, when official proofs of identity are 
invariably demanded. 

Passports are supposed to be required in Austria- 
Hungary, but are not demanded at the frontier, and are sel- 
dom called for anywhere. 

If the traveler expects to go to Russia, should send 
or take his passport to the Russian Consul-General, 
Alexander Obarovsky, 22 State street. New York, that his 
“visa” may be affixed; the fee is $1.20. If the passport is 
sent, the sender should state the place of birth and also the 
form of religion professed. 

The excursionist planning a tour through Central Eu- 
rope alone is likely to need his passport only in case regis- 
tered letters or money orders are sent to him. 

Passports are good for two years, but can then be 
renewed on application to the State Department at Wash- 
ington. 

BAGGAGE. 

I do not know whether the Romans called their baggage 
impedimenta because it impeded, but I do know that in all 
Roget’s Thesaurus no truer synonym is to be found. Since 
traveling began, old travelers have advised new travelers to 
take little baggage, yet every novice takes too much. 
Though any but hand luggage makes additional expense 
that is not inconsiderable, the objection is not chiefly on 
the score of economy, for anybody who can afford to travel, 
can usually afford to pay for comfort; it is on the score 
of convenience. Everything that is taken must be handled 
again an'd again and again. To pack and unpack a trunk 
takes valuable time; it is no small matter to arrange prop- 
erly a traveling bag crowded with small articles. Luggage 
reveals more than anything else what the poet or somebody 
else has called the “natural cussedness of inanimate ob- 


2i8 


GOING ABROAD? 


jects.” The traditional needle in the hay-stack is a crowbar 
compared with a thimble in a trunk. 

Don’t take a trunk if it can be avoided. It is certainly 
needless for the ordinary European excursion of anything 
less than three months. Should you buy bulky articles 
abroad, get the trunk there, postponing its purchase as long 
as possible. 

English tourists on the Continent rarely take trunks, 
but the number of bags and bundles they manipulate is in- 
credible, — this because hand luggage pays no railroad fares, 
as has been explained. 

If a trunk seems indispensable, take a steamer trunk, 
which is half the height of an ordinary trunk, and is the 
only kind that is allowed in staterooms. It can there be 
stowed under the berth. A safe height for a steamer trunk 
is thirteen inches. 

If other trunks are to be taken, the simpler, plainer nad 
stronger they are, the better. Inventors have not had 
marked success in trunk devices, and though a few are good, 
most of them are more bother than they are worth. Bag- 
gage smashing is not so general in Europe as in America, 
but now and then you will see a trunk dropped from the 
top of an omnibus to the ground, and it is not safe to count 
on gentle handling. By reason of the baggage rates on 
Continental railroads, travelers use the lightest trunks they 
can get, frequently buying in Paris or London the cloth- 
covered wicker hampers in which lo bring home their pur- 
chases. I have heard of travelers who have carried these 
hampers about Europe without damaging them, and then 
had them ruined in getting from New York to Boston. The 
only one I ever bought was pretty nearly ruined before 
it got on the steamer, and I am not enthusiastic about their 
wearing qualities. 

Have your trunk marked with big colored crosses on 
the ends, conspicuous initials, or some other mark readily 
distinguished. There are frequent occasions when it must be 
picked out of a large pile of baggage, — on wharves, in cus- 
tomshouses, and on die platforms of English railway stations, 
for the English have no check system, and every time you 


PERSONALITIES. 


2 19 

leave the train, you mU‘St go to the luggage van and watch 
the trunks unloaded till yours appears. 

If you are to return from the port at which you land, the 
steamer trunk can be stored in the company’s warehouse, 
for a small fee or none. Ordinarily the passenger leaves it 
in the stateroom, with a tag or label showing the boat and 
date of return. The stewards put it in the baggage room on 
the dock, and when you come on board for the return trip 
it is found in the stateroom. Of cotrrse, though, it is safer to 
avoid any chance of misunderstanding or oversight by visit- 
ing the dock long enough before sailing to make sure that 
somebody attends tew the matter. 

Should you cross by the southern route, to a Mediter- 
ranean port, with the intention of returning from a northern 
port by a boat of the same line, your trunk will be sent round 
there with little or no charge. 

If you want to take the steamer trunk with you, the 
steamer clothes, rug, ulster, or what you please, can well be 
put in a canvas bag you should have taken for the purpose, 
and stored as the trunk would have been stored. An ordinary 
flour sack will sufflee and be quite safe. 

The steamer trunk has for travel on shore advantages 
in its compactness over the size customary with us, apart 
from the saving in railway charges. The American hack 
with its trunk rack behind is unknown aibroad, where the 
‘‘boxes” go on top of the cab or hansom, or else beside the 
driver. Though large trunks may in fact be thus carried, 
the small trunk is in this particular much the more con- 
venient for all concerned. 

Packing a trunk is an art by itself. The important thing 
is to pack tight. If the trunk has two trays and there are 
not enough things to fill them solid, fill in the bottom and 
one tray solid, and put in the other tray only things that can 
‘tumble without damage. Garments should be laid flat, rather 
than be rolled. It is useless to put heavy things at the bot- 
tom, for baggage smashers never regard a trunk’s equili- 
brium. Fragile articles should not touch sides, top or 
bottom, for there they will get the full force of concussion. 
If corks are tied up, even ink bottles can be safely carried 


220 


GOING ABROAD? 


round the world in the middle of a trunk. Newspapers make 
good protection for things that projecting corners nia^/ 
hurt. And let no woman ask her husband to pack a hat or 
waist in a trunk. Let her take the awful responsibility her- 
self. 

Of traveling bags, the extension style gets the most 
approval from experienced travelers. Extension bags are 
seldom ornamental, but the appearance of luggage is never 
considered abroad. They fit their contents, will hold a sur- 
prising amount, and are not so easily crushed that starched 
linen is likely to get wrinkled, or a souvenir broken. Next 
in preference is that more recent invention, the dress suit 
case. It is the most easily packed, holds clothing with a few 
folds, protects its contents with its unyielding sides, and, 
best of all, can be carried with least fatigue, because it lets 
the handle come nearer the leg than is the case with other 
styles 'of bags, and to hold the hand away from the leg is 
one of the things that makes ca^**ying irksome. 

English tourists have a fondness for the “hold-all,” or 
“wrap-up,” a despicable-looking thing made O'f canvas and 
bound with leather, which has its good points. As its name 
signifies, it is merely a stout covering, flexible enough to 
adapt itself to its contents, however bulky they may be. A 
hold-all and an extension bag together will carry as much as 
a small trunk. As a substitute for the hold-all, a yard and 
a half of rubber cloth and a shawl-strap can be economically 
used, but don’t take a cheap shawl-strap; the stoutest is 
none too safe. 


THE LITTLE THINGS. 

I am addicted to the reticule 'habit, if I may extend a 
word usually applied to a woman’s hand-bag to cover the 
sort of satchel that of late years has been much used by men 
in their journeys between office and home, or away for a 
night. In long travels it serves as a receptacle for many con- 
venient things that are too bulky for the pocket, yet may be 
lost or hard to get to in a large valise. In such a small bag 
can be conveniently carried the guide book, the novel to be 
read on the train, time tables, field glasses, smoking utensils 


personalities. 


221 



when smoking is a habit, playing cards, and a score of other 
little things likely to be in demand at any time, as well as 
fruit or luncheons. Women will find a cloth shopping bag 
equally handy, especially on shipboard, where it can be taken 
on deck with the writing materials, book, or other little 
things which are likely to be needed during the day, ajid 
thus save tremulous trips to the stateroom. 

It adds to convenience if toilet articles are kept for the 
most part in separate bags and boxes. There should be a 
rubber bag for the sponge, a celluloid cover for the tooth- 
brush, a celluloid box for the soap, and a soiled-clothes bag. 
A woman will find use in a small bag for hairpins, brush, 
comb, and button-hook, made with a draw-string so that 
it can be hung in plain sight. 

The 1:oilet requisites of travelers are so nearly alike the 
world over, that it seems almost superfluous to enumerate 
them. How absurd to tell any civilized being to take a 
tooth-brush! Yet in the haste of packing even a tooth-brush 
may be overlooked. So it will do no hurt, at any rate, to 
print this list. Of course, the classification is based on per- 
sonal notions: 

ESSENTIAL. 

Tooth-brush, in celluloid holder. 

Shaving-brush, in celluloid holder. 

Soap. 

Pocket-knife. 

Comb and hair-brush. 

Court plaster. 

Ink bottle with spring cover. 

Sponge. 

Vaseline. 

Telescoping drinking cup. 

Steamer rug (a thick carriage robe will serve, on a pinch). 

Shawl strap. 

Clothes-brush. 

Scissors. 

Stylographic or fountain pen. 

Corkscrew. 

Needles and thread. 

Pin cushion and safety pins. 

Toilet paper (in cloth case). 

Twine. 

Visiting cards. 


I 


222 


GOING ABROAD? 


Buttons. 

Leather purse for coin. 

Address book and pencil. 

Collar buttons and shirt studs. 

For women — Glove and shoe buttons, sewing silk, tapes, hooks 
and eyes, hat pins, and small pins, black and white. 

For anybody whose eyes are weak, colored glasses. 

For the near-sighted, extra spectacles. 

DESIRABLE. 

Leather vial case, to be bought of a dealer in medical goods or 
through any apothecary, containing vials of Jamaica ginger, 
cholera medicine, listerino, arnica, medicine for coughs and colds, 
whiskey, toilet water, hamamelis, ink, paregoric. 

Bootlaces and hat string. 

Cathartic pills and quinine. 

Seidlitz powders. 

Pocket looking-glass. 

Pieces of flannel and cotton. 

Hot water bag. 

A few elastic bands; also tags and labels. 

Patent trouser buttons. 

Playing cards. 

Thin linen paper and envelopes. 

Tape measure or pocket rule. 

Diary. 

Folding alcohol lamp. 

Tube of tooth paste. 

Fur women, smelling salts. 

COMFORTS AND LUXURIES. 

Aneroid barometer; also iiocket thermometer. 

Paper covered novels. 

For smokers— Swedish matches, sometimes called fusees. 
Binocular glasses (combining the merits of field and opera 
glasses); or opera glasses. 

Flask. 

Compass. 

Pocket tool chest, tools inside the handle. 

Small pillow, for steamer chair and in trains. 

CLOTHING. 

Every self-respecting man and woman accustomed to 
the conventionalities of society, wants at all times to be 
neatly dressed, but it is universally understood that the exi- 
gencies of travel do not permit the variety and elegance of 
costume customary and praoticahle at hotne. Indeed, good 
taste does not justify the display of elaborate gowns and 


PERSONALITIES. 


223 


millinery on steamers, in cars, and at the tables of hotels 
frequented by transient guests. The plainest garb, therefore, 
is permissible in traveling, and as a European tour very 
seldom takes one where a stylish appearance is essential, it 
is both needless and foolish to cumber one’s self with a va- 
riety of wearing apparel. 

Eor the woman who does not expect to visit abroad, 
who plans nothing but sight-seeing, and who makes a quick 
trip, one skirt will suffice, unless its wearer has the misfor- 
tune to be caught in a driving rain without protection, but 
in the ordinary course o'f travel that is not likely to happen. 
Even should she be obliged once or twice to stay in her 
chamber an /hour or two while the skirt was dried at the 
.kitchen fire, the bother would be less than that of carrying 
along an extra skirt. To be sure, the idea of wearing the 
same skirt for two or three months seems intolerable to 
most women before they go, but, though I have heard the 
verdict of many women who have made the journey, I have 
yet to find one who thinks more than a single skirt an 
actual necessity, though some advise a second if a trunk is 
taken. 

The skirt should be of some dark material, preferably 
a serge or mohair. A coat of the same material, with a silk 
waist and several shirt waists, will suffice for outer garments, 
except, of course, a waterproof. In winter abroad and at all 
seasons on the steamer, some sort of a wrap is necessary, 
per*haps the most comfortable being a cape ulster. Of 
course, it is absurd to wear on shipboard anything that will 
be damaged by salt water, foi spray is sure to fly. Women 
should plan their garments for the voyage so that they can 
dress and undress with the utmost possible speed; five min- 
utes’ delay in the stateroom may send one back to her berth, 
though she would have been all right could she only have 
reached the deck. 

Older clothes are the common thing on shipboard, but 
that does not mean shabby clothes. Whoever takes dilapi- 
dated garments on board with the idea of throwing them 
away on reaching the other side, will grieve. Once the 
qualms of seasickness are gone, it is as satisfying to be neatly 


GOING ABROAD? 


224 

d.'essed on the ocean as it is on the land. The wise will not 
aim at elegance, nor be unhappy if the garments are not of 
the very latest- and most extreme fashion, but they will 
regret appearing disreputable. Don’t forget that steamer 
chairs give shoes more than usual prominence. 

A wrapper -or bath-roibe is a convenience on the steamer, 
but it is bothersiome to carry about on land. Pajamas are 
highly recommended by men who have used them in berths, 
by reason of the protection they give against draughts and 
cold. In the cold rooms and damp beds of Southern 
Europe during the winter season, flannel or flannelette night 
gowns will be found a comfort by both men and women. 

Two sets of under-clothing may be made to suffice, for 
washing is done very quickly at all foreign hotels; yet most 
people will prefer to carry the slight additional weight of 
another set. Silk underwear has strong advocates among 
those who have tried it, and, though costlier at the outset, 
is said to be more economical in the long run, standing the 
laundering better. India (not China) silk is advised, as 
being the more easily washed. It sheds rather than gathers 
dust; does not retain wrinkles; and keeps the body at an 
even temperature, as it does not conduct the heat so readily 
as cotton or wool. People who habitually wear thick woolen 
under garments during American winters, will find them no 
less comfortable in Southern Europe at the same season, 
though the thermometer may range much higher than on 
this side the water. On the way over, whether in summer 
or w’inter, women may find flannel knickerbockers or silk 
equestrian tights more convenient than thick petticoats. 

Another garment that in wi ter will be found most 
serviceable for both men and women, is the sweater. As a 
comfort-giver on the deck of the steamer, in railway cars 
when on long journeys, in hotel chambers, even in art gal- 
leries, and when driving, I have never found its equal. It 
is nearly as warm as an ulster and far more comfortable 
when the wearer is walking. Thus far it has been monopo- 
lized by people with athletic proclivities, and custom does 
not permit its use as yet to elderly people, but I feel sure 


PERSONALITIES. 


225 

that when travelers come to unde’^stand ks merits, they 
will make more use of it. 

Of course, I do not advise anybody to wear a sweater in 
Hyde Park or the Bois, on the Boulevard des Italiennes or 
the Corso, at the theatre or the table d’hote. In places where 
people congregate, everybody should want to dress in a way 
that will not attract attention by eccentricity, and it is true 
that one is never so much judged by dress as when traveling, 
because then one is judged entirely at first sig*ht. But shiver- 
ing memories of the railway cars of Europe and the galleries 
of Italy in winter, of the passes of the Alps in summer, 
convince me that there are times when, even in the presence 
of strangers, comfort and health are of more consequence 
than appearances. As a general rule, however, one should 
wear in public abroad nothing that he would not wear in 
similar surroundings at home. 

' Thick underclothing may or may not be welcome on 
shipboard, according to the weather. Summer days at sea 
are often uncomfortably warm. 

A garment that deserves more popularity is called the 
Rigby, a substitute for the mackintosh. I found it in Canada, 
and though it may be sold elsewhere, I have never seen it 
exposed for sale in the States. The dealer told me it had 
been chemically treated so that it was waterproof; without 
doubting his veracity, I will merely quote the belief of 
others that it had been extra shrunk before making up. 
Anywajq it will stand any wetting to which it is likely to be 
exposed in travel. It is a soft plaid woolen, made long and 
with a cape, much more agreeable to the touch than the 
mackintosh, and it can be folded, jammed, twisted, without 
getting to look disreputable till it is fairly worn out. I have 
used it for a blanket when camping in the woods, for a 
pillow, for an extra covering on cool nights when traveling, 
for a seat, for the outer covering of a sihawTstrap bundle 
during many weeks of travel, besides for the ordinary pur- 
poses of a water-proof and light overcoat, and I haven’t 
been able to ruin the thing, or even to injure it perceptibly. 
Perhaps it is made for women, though I have seen it only for 
men. It has seemed to me that if travelers of either sex. 


226 


GOING ABROAD? 


unable to find just this thing offered for sale, would have a 
long coat, with detachable cape and without lining, made of 
a light, soft woolen plaid, extra shrunk, they ^'^ould find it 
in a foreign tour a most useful substitute for light overcoat, 
mackintosh, or ulster. 

I am not audacious enough to enter the domain of 
women’s headwear more than to suggest what ought to be 
self-evident, that the wind plays havoc with broad-brimmed 
hats, and that they are uncomfortable in railway cars, espe- 
cially those abroad, for there the seats are always against 
partitions. The same suggestion may be made to men; the 
stiff, flat, wide brim of a straw hat is certainly less adapted 
to traveling than any other sort of brim. Indeed, men will 
find a stiff hat of any kind uncomfortable, whether it be 
Derby or silk. Possibly it may violate the laws of good 
dress to wear a cap all the time, yet it is certainly the most 
pleasurable of all head coverings. A felt hat has its good 
points, but in summer it is warm. A cap that can be jammed 
into the pocket without injury on entering a church or mu- 
seum is a great convenience, for to read from a guide book 
while holding a stiff* hat under one’s arm requires unusual 
dexterity and good nature. A Derby is, of course, the de- 
sirable hat in city streets, but a man could go all through 
Europe with a soft outing cap and never feel that his head- 
covering was attracting attention or making him the subject 
of unpleasant comment. Of course, if ceremonious calls 
are to be made, the conditions are quite different; I refer to 
traveling in Europe, not to staying there. 

On the boat the woman tourist will find a cap, Tam o’ 
Shanter or hood the most useful thing, and for men a soft 
hat or cap is a sine qua non. 

For the feet, light-colored shoes are, on the whole, 
preferable, because they look better with less care. Every 
healthy tourist is sure to do a great deal of walking, and 
many a night the feet will ache. So only the easiest of 
shoes should be worn, and, for the same reason, slippers will 
prove a big relief in hotels and pensions. Women should 
take a pair of soft, heelless dressing slippers. 

Outing shirts for men are far the most comfortable, and 


PERSONALITIES. 


227 


they have the decided advantage of not yielding so quickly 
to the grime of railway trains and the perspiration of exer- 
cise, which the traveler cannot avoid. Now that for four or 
five months of the year they are commonly worn in the day- 
time, their suitability for travel is beyond question. At the 
table d’hote and at any place of resort after dark, the white 
* shirt and collar are, of course, desirable, and almost every 
man, after a day’s sight-seeing or car-riding, is glad to get 
into fresh garments of a somewhat more genteel character, 
so that a white s'hirt or two should be found in every travel- 
ing-bag, but in the daytime the younger men, at any rate, 
may safely give the outing shirt the preference. The tourist 
with even the most dapper instincts can afford to remember 
that common sense does not demand him to compete in 
dress with the men he will see in Piccadilly or the Unter 
dem Linden. 

What is called a business suit is the most appropriate 
costume a man can wear, and it is needless for him to take 
along any other. Of course, there is satisfaction in putting 
on a black coat Sundays or for dinner, but its absence will 
not be remarked. A dress suit is wholly needless for almost 
every tourist. If you get the chance to attend some dinner 
party or state function, hire a dress suit if you can’t borrow 
one. Unless you have iiitimate friends living abroad, the 
chances of such a need are remote. You would not like to 
sit in certain parts of the opera house at Paris unless you 
were in evening dress, but there are plenty of seats where 
a black cutaway or Prince Albert will be just exactly as 
satisfactory to yourself and everybody else, and a sack suit 
will arouse no comment. 

Walking-sticks are an incumbrance that will not be en- 
dured by men not irretrievably bound to the cane habit. 
Many will prefer not to take an umbrella, but to buy one 
should imperative occasion arise; it may not happen at all 
that you will be in rain where an umbrella will be demanded. 
Women will need the lightest of rubbers; men will not need 
them. The streets of all European cities are paved, and you 
never come across anything like genuine American mud. 
In Northern Europe in winter, goloshes might occasionally 


228 


GOING ABROAD? 


prove useful, but the streets are so quickly cleared of snow 
that they are less servicealble than in the States. Women 
are likely to need rubbers on ship-board by reason of wet 
decks, and an extra pair of shoes against the chance of 
waves wetting one pair. 

In all this advice it will be noticed that comfort is the 
first consideration style the last. This is partly because style 
is actually of less consequence in Europe than in America, 
for though the aristocrats of London are the best dressed men 
in the w'orld, and the demi-monde of Paris displays the women 
who think themselves the bes«t dressed women in the world, 
the mass of the people are more indifferent to the di'Ctates of 
fashion than those of American cities, and there is a varie'ty 
in costume which relieves the stranger from appearing odd 
if he consults his purse or fancy. But the advice is given 
chiefly because comfort is, indeed, the most important thing 
in travel, for travel is hard work, hard physical work, and it 
cannot be enjoyed if the demands of the body are ignored. 

POOD AND DRINK. 

Most important of boidily demands is that of the stom- 
ach. Fortunately, the traveler in Euro<pe has little need of 
counsel in this regard, for the cooking is uniformly superior 
to that of America, and, except in Great Britain and Hol- 
land, the customs do not encottrage over-eating, perhaps the 
most prolific cause of bodily disorders. 

In Central and Southern Europe it is the universal 
practice that the first meal of the day shall consist of coffee 
or chocolate, with a roll and butter. 

This seems all wrong to the American before he gets 
there. He thinks he never will be able to last till luncheon 
time if he can’t add >at least an egg or two, and a beefsteak 
or mutton choip would not be unwelcome. Yet, after trying 
the Continental plan for a week, rare is the American who 
hungers for the hearty American breakfast. Nevertheless, 
Americans who go back and forth frequently tell me that, 
though on the other side the coffee and roll seem amply 
sufficient, the moment they land in New York they have to 
go back to more substantial dishes, Perhaps the climate 


PERSONALITIES. 


229 


has something to do with it. Certain it is, too, that the 
Briton and the Dutchman, when at home, insist on starting 
the day with a liberal supply of fuel, perhaps because their 
cold winters demand it. 

The Continental custom of serving both luncheon and 
dinner in courses prevents fast eating, and therefore is more 
healthy than the American custom, though very trying to the 
American patience. ' 

Each portion seems small, and nobody has the audacity 
to ask for a second “help,” yet somehow, when you have 
finished, your appetite has been satisfied. Bean ascribes to 
this the fact that on his last trip he losit twenty pounds, yet 
came home in better health than he had enjoyed for years. 
And it is sure that sickness among American travelers 
abroad is rarer than among an equal number of Americans 
of the same station in life at home, though doubtless that 
is partly because they are usually in good health when they 
start. 

When you have your choice of dishes, as at cafes, order 
what is local if you want the best. What can you expect if 
you order salmon in Switzerland or macaroni in Edinboro? 
Food is one of the few things where price is no index of 
quality. The Cheapest dishes are often the most delicious. 

Wine is another article that is best where it is produced. 
It is often hurt by transportation, and away from its home 
it is often adulterated. For example, it is ^almost impossible 
for any but an expert to get pure sherry anywhere save in 
Jerez, Spain. The most delicious of Italian wine, the Monte- 
fiascone, is only to be found at its best in the neighbodiood 
of Orvieto, for it is injured even by carrying as far as Rome, 
and would be utterly worthless if conveyed to Paris; 
for that reason it is cheap at Orvieto, in spite of its excel- 
lence. 

Therefore the wine of a district, the vin ordinaire, is not 
to be despised because it is of low cost. 

From the fact that wine is the common beverage of the 
Latin countries and beer of the Germanic countries, it does 
not follow that Americans must use either wine or beer. So 
many American and Englis'h believers in total abstinence 


GOING ABROAD? 


^30 

have successfully fought to get water or milk in Continental 
hotels, that now the total abstainer attracts no attention. 
Tolerable drinking water is always to be secured, but it is 
usually not as cold as we like it, and the European does not 
appreciate our wish that it be freshly drawn. The water in 
the carafes always to be found on the wash stands in Euro- 
pean hotels is supposed to be fit for drinking, even though 
it may have been put there hours before. 

TOBACCO. 

The smoking American has a hard time of it on the 
Continent. In several of the countries, notably France, 
Spain, and Italy, the trade is in the hands of the govern- 
ment, or so enormously taxed that it is virtually a govern- 
ment monopoly. Whatever may be the benefits to the na- 
tional exchequer, there are certainly none to the consumer, 
and if a Nationalist or State Socialist wants arguments to 
support his theories, let him shun the subject of European 
tobacco. 

Pipe smokers will find no plug tobacco abroad. They 
can get American brands of long cut or fine cut only at exor- 
bitant prices. Where the monopoly prevails, the common 
smoking tobaccos offered for sale will cure the habit if any- 
thing will. 

Italian cigars are about the meanest cigars man ever 
perpetrated on a suffering community. French cigars are 
not much better. Havanas can be bought in the Latin 
countries, at high rates. 

The Germanic races come nearer understanding What is 
good in the tobacco line. Cigars are cheap in Switzerland, 
cheaper in Germany, and “dog cheap” in Holland. In fact, 
Holland is the paradise of smokers. Tobacco is absolutely 
free of duty there, if I understand right, and partly by reason 
of the fact that Sumatra is a Dutch possession, Holland leads 
the world in some branches of the tobacco trade. So ’he 
discreet smoker will bring home from Holland as many 
cigars as he can. In Rotterdam or Amsterdam he can buy 
for two cents apiece cigars that in many American cigar 
stores would retail for ten cents straight; and for five cents* 


PERSONALITIES. 


231 

khe can get luxury that in America a millionaire would deem 
extravagance. 

The cigarette habit prevails in France, Italy, and Spain, 
so that decent cigarettes can be bought, but Turkish or 
Egyptian cigarettes are not given away. In Germany and 
Austria pipe smoking is more common, and in Great Britain 
it would seem as if most men smoked a pipe, both in doors 
and out. 


MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 

Americans and Englishmen do not bear a good reputa- 
tion on the Continent in point of manners. The typical 
Briton is believed to be a brute, the typical Yankee a boor. 
Unfortunately our nation has been too often represented 
abroad by shoddy aristocrats, the newly rich. Of late we 
have sent over every year a much larger proportion of re- 
fined and cultivated people, who are gradually redeeming 
our reputation, and some of our observant countrymen are 
vain enough to think we are nearing the ideals of courtesy 
faster than the English. 

Without infringing on the hallowed precincts of a book 
of etiquette, and without expecting that the most sensible ad- 
vice can move the prejudices of the innately vulgar, yet I 
may hazard a few suggestions and a little information to the 
American who realizes the good sense of adapting himself 
soimewhat to the customs of the nation he may visit. 

First of all it may be pointed out that courtesy is so 
common among the people of the Continent as to make 
the lack of it more offensive than in our own less consider- 
ate land. Nothing whatever is to be gained by the dic- 
tatorial manner, even when dealing with Europeans of the 
lower classes. A smile will accomplish much more than a 
frown. The good-natured man will travel with far more 
ease and comfort than the man who frets and fumes and 
scolds and swears. More flies are caught w*ith molasses than 
with vinegar. 

Remember that the old traveler is self-contained. He 
makes the best of the situation, without venting to his neigh- 
bor either surprise or indignation. Of all travelers the fussy 


232 


GOING ABROAD? 


mail is the biggest bore. If you don’t like things and there 
is no remedy, keep your mout'h shut. The kicker may get 
more, but at what a cost! Of course on the first trip a great 
many things are new and at first sight unoom'fiortable, but 
when a thing is, there is usually a reason for it, and a justi- 
fication. Give it a fair test, karn it, before you grumble 
aboui it. 

Human hogs are always met in traveling. The Ameri- 
can instinct is to fight for one’s rights and baffle the hog, 
but if American shrewdness fails to carry the day, better 
leave the field to the hog; there is little Satisfaction and 
much discomfort in open battle with him. 

The human iceberg is almost as disagreeable, and 
strange to say its nationality is more likely to be American 
than anything else. Just as the Puritans reasoned that all 
pleasure must be sinful, so in our reaction from the free and 
easy manners that gave Dickens and others the chance for 
ridicule half a century ago, some of our ultra-cultured peo- 
ple are going to the extreme of frigidity and formality. 
Probably it was an American aristocrat who refused to help 
a drowning man because she had noit been introduced to 
him. But considerations of humanity aside, the truth is that 
courtesy should ever rise superior to conventionality. Cour- 
tesy does not require one to embrace every stranger, but 
it does call for conversation at dinner tables, and for com- 
panionship in diligences, railway compartments, and other 
places where people must pass time close together. The 
people of the Continent are very considerate in this regard, 
and the higher their rank, the more gracious their bearing. 
Two of the pleasantest and kindest dinner cc^mpanions I 
ever met turned out to be a German countess and baroness, 
and their titles remained unknown to me for several days 
after they first said ‘‘Good morning” in the pension at 
Rome where chance threw us together; at evening in the 
parlor they led in all endeavors toward' sociability. What a 
contrast that parlor was to the parlor of an American sum- 
mer hotel! It was the difference between June and Dece n- 
ber. 

Courtesy abroad does not go by strata. People there 


PERSONALITIES. 


233 


know how to be gracious to their social inferiors without 
being condescending. On the Continent every woman, no 
matter what her dress or occupation may shcww to be her 
station in 'life, gets at least the outward tokens of respect. 
In France the commonest drudge must be saluted as 
“Madame”; every man, even to the humblest, is “Monsieur.” 
In Italy it should be “Signore” or “Signora”; in Spain, 
“Senor” or “Senora.” In the Germanic countries no appella- 
tion of this sort is customary in addressing strangers, but 
the salutation is always couched in respectful phrase. In 
Great Britain, however, salutations to strangers are as awk- 
ward and unceremoious as with us, — worse, in fact, because 
there one must not use the interjectional “Sir” so freely as 
we use it. To an Englishman that term is more one of 
servility than of courtesy, and it is not to be used in address- 
ing men supposed to be of socially inferior position. By 
the way, it is not commonly taught in the schools nor told in 
the books that the familiar French phrase, “shl vous plait,” — 
“if you please,” — is not the proper phrase to employ where 
there is no flavor of command; it may be addressed to a 
waiter or chambermaid or anybody else in giving an order, 
or what amounts to an order, but not properly to the host 
w'hen accepting something at table, nor in general when the 
idea to be expressed is our “with pleasure”; “volontiers” or 
something of the sort is then preferable. 

The English phrase that most worries and wearies the 
American is “Thank you.” By tradespeople, clerks, every- 
body of low degree it is used interminably, without any re- 
gard to its meaning, and pronounced with a peculiar rising 
inflection that rasps the ear till it becomes intolerable. 

Everywhere on the Continent it is usual to say “Good- 
day” in the language of the locality on entering or leaving 
an ofiflce or a shop. Frequently it is spoken on entering or 
leaving a railway compartment, and the almost universal 
custom at such moments is for men to salute by raising the 
hat or a courteous bow. Also, it is the proper thing when 
entering or leaving the dining-room of a hotel or pension, 
to salute or to bow a farewell to those who may be at table. 
A party of Americans, entering late the dining-room of a 


334 


GOING ABROAD? 


small hotel in Spain, sa,w at a separate table a group of 
Spanish gentlemen enjoying their after-dinner cigars. 
Though there were ladies in the American party, Spanish 
courtesy did not demand that the Spaniards should stop 
their smoking, but presently it was noted that when they 
left the room, each Spaniard bowed courteously to the Amer- 
icans, though their table had been at some distance and not 
a word had been interchanged. 

On the streets of Continental cities the most striking 
difference between foreign customs and those of America is 
in the handling of the hat. Men ordinarily salute each other 
by lifting the hat, and of course they pay the same compli- 
ment to all women of their acquaintance. A most admirable 
practice is the respect shown to grief by lifting the hat when- 
ever a coffin passes; all men will do this, whether the coffin 
contains prince or pauper. It is a custom that every Ameri- 
can will do well to bring home with him. 

In all offices and banking rooms it is usual to remove 
the hat; sometimes in cafes and even in confectionery shops. 
The stranger who neglects this may find himself requested to 
do it in Germany or Russia; and it is not uncommon to ask 
k even in the post-offices and hotel lobbies of Russia, often 
because of the holy image standing in some dark corner. 
Ladies will not encounter such requests save on the floor of 
some of the leading Parisian theatres, where hats are not 
permitted to be worn. Possibly the time will come when 
every woman in every audience room everywhere will realize 
the injustice she does to those behind her by wearing either 
a high hat or a high coiffure; and all men will bless that 
freak of fashion which some day may induce ladies to dis- 
pense with their head-wear in-doors altogether. 

Americans going abroad for business purposes are at 
first at a loss as to how to dress to best advantage. In 
London the silk hat and frock coat are an essential to the 
business man who would get a respectful hearing. Should 
he enter an office clad in the usual business suit of New 
York or Chicago, he would at the outset handicap himself 
by giving an unfavorable impression, for all the self-respect- 
ing merchants and moneyed men of London follow the 


PERSONALITIES. 


235 


fashion set by the Bank of England in ordering its clerks 
. to wear tall hats and black frock coats during business hours. 
Yet cross over to a German city and that costume would be 
enough to arouse the suspicion of frivolity or shallowness, 
for your substantial German merchant or manufacturer has 
little respect for the niceties of dress. 

The etiquette of large commercial and manufacturing 
establishments abroad is formal and uncompromising. If 
an American approaches their officials with the brusque, 
breezy manner common to many of our pushing business 
men, he will be met with a rebuff that will freeze 'him, and 
no amount of argument will overcome the prejudice he will 
have aroused. A man of affairs who had occasion to visit 
the leading cities >of the Germanic countries on a business 
mission, thus des'Cribes the procedure: “On entering an 

office, your name and business must be stated to an attendant, 
who shows you into a small waiting-room, always provided 
for the purpose. The servant takes your card within, and if 
your visit is in order, you are in due course shown into the 
presence of the manager, usually termed the Herr Directeur. 
Before entering, you must leave on the table in the anteroom 
your hat and stick. The proper greeting is to bow low, 
place your right hand on your left breast, and say, T have 
the honor.’ Then you hope the director has enjoyed good 
health, and add something complimentary if you are quick- 
witted enough to think of the right thing to say. By this time 
the frown on the brow of the great man has faded; he pro- 
duces cigars, is amazed that you do not smoke, and the 
conversation drifts into the business in hand. If he invites 
you to go into an adjoining room, or out into the works, 
the matter of precedence in passing through the door sudden- 
ly assumes importance, and it often takes half a minute to 
get the tangle straightened out. The director motions you 
forward, but you fall back and implore him, ‘Bitte, Herr 
Directeur.’ He says an urgent ‘Bitte’ to you; but you are 
firm, and he gravely passes out before. You meet him later 
on the street, and if the acquaintance is well advanced, be 
takes his hat entirely off, dips it twice, and advances rapidly 
with extended hand to greet you — you, of course, doing the 
same. 


236 


GOING ABROAD? 


“Then the hours. While the workmen are i-n their places 
at 7 o’clock, the office seldom begins before half-past 8 or 
9; and you must never appear for business until after 10. At 
that hour all business, mechanica;! and commercial, comes 
to a stop; and the men repair to the nearest beer-shops aud 
restaurants for beer or wine and a light lunch. This takes 
half an hour.- Then at 12 all hands knock off for a leisurely 
dinner, followed by a long, quiet smoke, with perhaps a game 
of cards, a newspaper or a dis-cussion. This intermission 
lasts two hours, and during the period business comes as 
completely to a standstill as if it were Sunday or a holiday. 
Wholesale houses, manufactories, brokers’ offices, banks, 
etc., are closed up tight as a drum. At 2 o’clock the doors 
are unlocked, and the wheels begin to move. From that 
hour till 7 and even 8 o’clock at night commercial business 
goes on steadily. The mechanic works cheerfully ten and 
eleven hours and subscribes funds for his English brothers 
striking for eight. There is some variation in these prac- 
tices in different Continental countries, but substantially 
they are the same everywhere. Men move much more slowly 
than with us.” 

Italians have an odd way of beckoning. In America 
people wave the hand toward them when they desire a 
person’s approach; in Italy it is just the opposite. When 
an Italian waves a goodby to you with his hand you imagine 
he is calling you back, and if he wants you to approach he 
motions with his hand as Americans do in making a gesture 
of repulsion. 

Somewhere I have picked up a list of the insults that an 
American may unwittingly offer to a foreigner. Without 
vouching for the accuracy of the statements, I give them for 
what they are worth: — 

In England, if a friend is visiting another, and stays to 
dinner, he may ask for the loan of a hairbrush without 
giving offence; but in Hungary he may not. To attempt to 
borrow that useful article is one of the greatest insults which 
can be offered to a Hungarian, and one which will in most 
cases cause a duel. 

In France the unwary foreigner may be visiting a friend. 


PERSONALITIES. 


237 


and may put his hat upon the bed. This is a grievous form 
of insult, but why it is not known; it is a very ancient one, 
and so probably results from an old superstition. 

Again, there are two ways of pouring out wine in France, 
as everywhere else. One of these is to hold the bottle so that 
while pouring the thumb is facing the table cloth. The 
second way is to hold the hand reversed — that is, with the 
knuckles downward — and this is a great insult to the as- 
sembled guests and the host — a far greater insult than drink- 
ing a health in water, and that is pretty serious in France. 

In Germany, to offer to a lady- a rose, or any other 
flower, without any green or leaves with it, is to insult her 
deeply, though why this should be so is not known pre- 
cisely. 

In Italy it is deemed insulting to refuse a pinch of s-nuff. 


CHAPTER X. 

SOMEWHAT LITERARY. 

It is not necessary to know the least thing about any for- 
eign language in order to enjoy a European tour and profit 
by it. Every decent hotel on the comni'On lines of travel has 
at least one employee who can speak English, usually the 
portier, who knows anywhere from three to half a dozen 
languages enough for conversational purposes. Often, too, 
the head waiter speaks English, and frequently there are 
others at hand able to understand you. Indeed, the readi- 
ness with which his own tongue is understood grieves and 
annoys the traveler who has hoped in the ordinary course of 
travel to learn something of foreign tongues. Abandon 
that expectation. 

Outside the hotels there is slight necessity for being a 
linguist, thoug'h it is often advantageous. To master die 
names of the coins and to learn to count will answer all abso- 
lute requirements, and that can be done in an hour. Even 
this is not necessary when anybody else in the party already 
knows it. 

Carry a phrase book in your pocket and you can ordi- 
narily find some one who can read the questions to which 
you point, if you dare not try pronunciation. 

Statisticians flatter us by proving that English is the 
coming language of the civilized world, that more people 
will speak it than any other, perhaps already speak it. 
However that may be, certain it is that French has not yet 
surrendered its paramount position. It is the native tongue 
of but a sni'all fraction of the world’s population, but it 
unmistakably leads as the second-best language, so to speak, 
the language studied and acquired by more people than any 
other. 

It is the language of diplomacy, the language of fashion, 

238 ' 


SOMFAYHAT LITERARY. 


239 


and the language of travel. So for the sake of convenience, 
let me us'e it to symbolize all foreign languages, and say of it 
what may be said of any of the rest. 

LEARNING A LANGUAGE. 

Every American who has studied French at home teels 
a keen disappointment when he goes to Paris. He may not 
have been vain enough to expect that his school French 
would be of much use, but he has felt certain that it would be 
be of some use. In fact, however, it is practically unavail- 
able, wiherever the ear is concerned. Of course, to read 
French is no more difficult in Paris than in Boston, but to 
understand it is much harder in a Pahsian hotel or audience 
room than in an American class-room. The reason is sim- 
ple, — ‘in the class-room it has been enunciated slowly and 
with distinctness, but on its native heath it runs like a hare. 
When speaking English in conversation, we give full weight 
to but a small part of the letters; the intuition of the auditor 
fills in the blanks between the few sounds his ear really 
catches. The Frenchman does the same, but your class-room 
practice has not cultivated the intuition to the extent neces- 
sary for comprehending the foreign conversation. The 
Frenchman doesn’t really talk so very fast; it is your brain 
that is going so very slow. 

Even if you have learned to converse readily with a 
French teacher, you will for days be helpless in Parisian con- 
versation, for you have learned the vocal habits of but one 
person, and these habits vary more than the features or the 
carriage. You must learn a thousand intonations, a thousand 
accents, before you get facility. This training of the ear, the 
vocal organs, the brain, and the nerves that telegraph be- 
tween them, takes time, practice, study, and genuine hard 
work. At the very quickest, it will take three months of life 
in a French family, and study in every feasible way before a 
foreigner will be justified in saying that he can speak and 
understand ordinary French, and it will be a year before he 
can deem himself an adept. He never can get a really thor- 
ough command of its idioms, if he goes to France after the 
age when children cease to acquire languages wholly by ear 


240 


GOING ABROAD? 


and begin to understand their principles. So if any man 
who did not leave America till after he was a dozen years 
old tells you he can speak French like a native, set him 
down as a braggart and a liar, for he knows he can’t. Chil- 
dren acquire a foreign tongue with a rapidity that to the 
adult seems marvelous; it is a pity that more of them are not 
taken abroad during the years when they can become lin- 
guists without money and without price, — “better still, with- 
out time and hai d work. 

I have been speaking of the ability to carry on a continu- 
ous conversation in French. That is quite different from the 
ability to understand a lecture or sermon; the formal speaker 
enunciates more clearly, speaks more slowly, uses less idioms 
and no colloquialisms. Therefore, to hear lectures and ser- 
mons is the best beginning for a vocal study of French, and 
I would advise every one who goes to Paris with the idea 
of studying the language, to attend as many “conferences” 
at the Sorbonne as possible, to attend French Protestaut 
churches on Sunday mornings, and to frequent the theatres 
as much as the purse will permit. On the stage, however, 
the flow of words is almost as rapid as in conversation, and 
it will always be well to read over the play in advance. In 
Paris it is almost always possible to hear standard plays that 
can be bought, or found in a circulating library. The classic 
comedies are given m'ost frequently at the Odeon, the theatre 
in the Latin Quarter, Which ranks as the second best theatre 
in France, in point ol acting. Like the Comedie Francaise, 
which leads the world, it gets a subsidy from the govern- 
ment, in return for which it is bound not only to give fre- 
quent performances of standard works, but also to present 
them at reduced prices, that they may not be too costly for 
students; the demand for tickets is not great, and excellent 
seats can be easily secured at prices which make it about the 
cheapest sort of French instruction. By taking the book 
and following the play, the ear will be aided, and, better 
still, the correct pronunciation can be learned. In conver- 
sation few people pronounce correctly, either in English or 
in French, but incorrect pronunciation would not be tol- 
erated on the stage lof the Odeon or the Comedie Francaise; 


SOMEWHAT LITERARY. 


241 


A 


indeed, the theatre is so much of a national institution in 
France that it sets the standard for pronunciation and elocu- 
tion. At the Comedie Francaise the prices are higher and 
the attendance larger, so that though its acting is the best in 
the woild, for the student of French it is not so convenient 
as the Odeon. In many of the other theatres, slang and 
idiom bother the student. 

It is not difficult to acquire 'French enough for traveling 
purposes, to learn to ask for what you want, to barter, to in- 
quire your way, to direct the cabman. The number of words 
required for these purposes is surprisingly small; indeed, the 
vocabulary of all ordinary conversation is very limited. But 
it is the vocabulary that you must have, not the grammar. 
Better know a hundred nouns and a few adjectives than be 
able to conjugate every irregular verb in the language. 
Words, words, words, — are w'hat you want; rules rules, rules 
can go to perdition, for all the good they are in a traveler’s 
predicaments. The man who will memorize two hundred 
words on the way across will get along better than the man 
who can translate a novel to perfection. 

Bean, who has an excellent reading knowledge of 
French, tells me that the first time he took a bath in Paris, 
he found when he was ready to leave the tub that there was 
no towel in the room. Ringing for an attendant, he tried to 
ask for a towel, but to save him he couldn’t think of the 

French word for it. As it is not uncommon for people to 

take their own towels to the bath, and if you want one fur- 
nished you must get it when you go in, the attendant was 

not quick to comprehend what Bean wanted, so he chattered 
and dripped and chattered for several minutes before he 
could show by gestures what he needed. 

How to put words together is a matter of minor im- 
portance for the traveler, but the schools teach that first, for 
they have in mind reading rather than speaking. 

It is better to know a little French thoroughly than a 
deal of it imperfectly. There is no time to study the question 
that may be asked, to puzzle it out. Now and then you can 
get it repeated very slowly, but that is impracticable in con- 
versation. Listen at the dinner table, and though you might 


242 


GOING ABROAD? 


be able to translate every word were it spoken by itself, yet 
if the important words of a sentence do not on the instant 
convey an impression to the mind, they will be drowned by 
the following sentences and the conversation will be unin- 
telligible. So have what you do know at your tongue’s end, 
or just at that part of the brain to which the message is tele- 
graphed from the ear. Add to thorough knowledge little by 
little, and in time mastery will come. 

The trouble with about all the grammars and phrase 
books is that they mix thoroughly the words and rules 
seldom needed with those constantly needed. The second 
person singular of the imperfect subjunctive, which you 
wouldn’t use or hear in a lifetime, maybe, is just as prominent 
in the grammar as the first person of the present indicative, 
which will be used constantly. 

There are a hundred ways of getting a book knowledge 
of a foreign language, and each bas its friends. In advocat- 
ing one of them I seek no quarrel with the others. It is 
merely a personal belief that the quickest course is to read 
the grammar through without study, in order to get an idea 
of the structure of the language; then to read it carefully, a 
little each day, but to put the most of the time into search- 
ing analysis ol simple diction. Take a French play by some 
modern writer, preferably a drama of society, and write out 
a translation of a page or two. The next day try to re-write 
it in French and compare with the original. For study by 
one’s self, surely this has its advantages. But when prac- 
ticable this should be merely accessory to conversation with 
a French teacher, who should be asked to speak little or no 
English in the course of the lesson. 

The best way to learn to read French is to read, — not 
with the dictionary, but as an English book would be read; 
not translating at all, but reading in French. The first time 
you try this, you will doubtless get but a slight inkling of the 
opening chapter; in the second, a glimpse of the story will re- 
veal itself; by the time the book is finished, most of it will 
have been comprehended. Common, essential words that at 
first were not understood, will after a while be learned by 
guessing with the help of the different contexts. A word that 


SOMEWHAT LITERARY. 


243 


persistently evades, may at last be looked up in the diction- 
ary; then it will not be forgotten, as it would have been had 
you looked it up the first time you saw it. 

The great thing is to learn to think in the language you 
would speak or understand, and not to translate. That 
comes only with time and training, but in time it will come 
to anybody. 

GUIDE BOOKS. 

Baedeker’s guide books are undoubtedly the best ever 
printed. For the tourist who wants to do any city or country 
thoroughly, they are indispensable. Prepared with charac- 
teristic German regard for minutiae and accuracy, they come 
as near perfection as bookimaking can accomplish. Fre- 
quent editions keep them up to date, and it is reasonably safe 
to trust them in every detail. The only criticism that can be 
made on them is that they are somewhat voluminous for the 
hurrying tourist, and as there is one for each country, some- 
times two or three for a country, they are rather bulky 
for transportation. This difficulty can be well overcome by 
getting them as you go along; they are to he found in 
every city. Then when you leave a country, mail its guide 
book to yourself in care of your banker at London, with 
memorandum, “To be held till called for,” or, “Not to be 
forwarded.” On your last visit to the banker, get the books 
and take them ho'me with you; they will prove invaluable 
there, to refresh your memory on hazy points, to aid you in 
giving advice to others about to make the trip, and for the 
fund of historical, geographical and statistical information 
they contain. 

This may seem rather expensive, for the Baedekers aver- 
age to cost not far from two dollars, but to go without them 
is penny wise and pound foolish. Rightly used, they save far 
more than they cost; directly, through their information 
about hotels, about prices of admission, about where to give 
fees and where not to give, and how much the fee should be, 
if any, about cab fares, and all the other routine expenditures; 
and indirectly, through the gain of time by knowing when 
places are open, what routes to take for covering a citJ' 


244 


GOING ABROAD? 


systematically, and where the important sights are to be 
found. The last benefit is not the least. Nothing is more 
vexatious than to be reminded after you have left a place of 
something you have omitted, which then is more than likely 
to seem as important as all the rest put together. 

1 pin my faith on Baedeker and do not profess to thor- 
ough acquaintance with other series, but with the help of a 
comprehensive article on the subject by a well-informed and 
accurate writer, John Ritchie, Jr., I can add to my own ob- 
servations enough to cover the ground. 

Of general guides to Europe four are published in this 
country. Two 'of them, ‘‘A Satchel Guide,” published by 
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, and “CasseH’s Complete 
Pocket Guide to Europe,” published by William R. Jenkins, 
New York, are of the small, single- volume variety, more con- 
venient for the pocket or hand-bag. They take in the parts 
of Europe usually visited by vacation tourists, and even for 
the traveler planning a long journey serve a desirable end by 
giving a bird’s-eye view of the whole ground to be covered, 
thus enabling him to arrange his trip with due regard to pro- 
portion, and to make a rough schedule of it in advance. 
Appleton’s three-volume guide covering the whole of Europe 
is tolerably accurate, and, if Baedekers are not bought, will 
be comprehensive enough for countries where the stay is 
short. Loomis’s 'Tndex Guide to Travel and Art Study in 
Europe,” issued by Scribner’s, contains a deal of solid infor- 
mation, but will hardly repay a vacation tourist for the bur- 
den of carrying it about, however useful it might be as a book 
of reference to one staying abroad for study; it is not a guide 
book in the ordinary sense of the term. 

In Europe are publivshed six considerable series of guide 
books, dealing with countries or localities in separate vol- 
umes, and either written originally in English or translated 
into English wholly or to the extent of some volumes. Be- 
sides Baedeker’s are those of Murray, Black, Cook, Orell- 
Fussli and Woerl. 

Murray’s volumes have so long been the stand-by of the 
Briton that half the time he says “Murray” when he means 
“guide book,” There are about 30 of them for England and 


SOMEWHAT LITERARY. 


245 


its localities, as many more for the Continent, substantial 
volumes averaging about $2.35 in cost, accurate and copious, 
but to my mind not conveniently arranged for consultation. 

Cook’s guides, issued by the tourist agency, are newer in 
the field, are less numerous and less costly, and not so elab- 
orate, the last a feature of merit or the opposite according to 
the needs of the individual tourist. Black, with his great list 
of more than 50 local British guides, has one of 20 for re- 
stricted districts of continental Europe, most of them ranging 
between 25 and 60 cents in price, and well worth the money 
of the man who wants thorough information on localities. 

The two German series are little local guides to cities or 
districts, and cost about ten cents each. The Woerl “hand- 
books” are published in Leipsic, and in the original German 
number more than 500 titles. About 20 of them are in Eng- 
lish. They are paper-covered pamphlets of about 50 ‘pages 
each, and are excellent in their way, although they are but 
little known to Americans. The Orell-Fussli guides are 
larger in form, and about 200 parts have been issued in Eng- 
lish. 

More than 200 volumes in the nature of guide books re- 
late to England. Baedeker’s Great Britain covers England, 
Wales and Scotland, but not Ireland; and it gives but a 
dozen pages to London, abridging for them the volume that 
is devoted to London alone. The price of the Great Britain 
volume would warrant the publisher in putting into both 
books at least the matter relating to the environs of London. 
The traveler may be justifiably annoyed, for instance, to find 
a description of Stoke Poges or Hampton Court omitted 
from a volume entitled “Great Britain.” And the book 
would be no thicker than the Switzerland volume' if it in- 
cluded Ireland. However, as far as it goes, it is excellent. 

Murray has volumes on “London As It Is”; the Envi- 
rons of London; England and Wales; Scotland; Ireland; 
and a score of counties or groups of counties; with five hand- 
books of cathedrals. Cassell has issued a “Pictorial England 
and Wales,” Smith has written a “Handy Guidebook,” and 
Whiting has published an “’Annual Holiday Directory.” For 
London especially there are Baedeker, Murray, Black, Cook 


246 


GOING ABROAD? 


and Cassell, to which may be added Murray’s publication, 
“London, Past and Present,” in three volumes, an exhaustive 
work for the library table. Then there is Dickens’s “Dic- 
tionary,” now in its twentie'di year, the “London Hand-book” 
of the Gro-svenor Press, Routledge’s “Diamond Guide,” 
Simpkins’s “London,” which come in a number of forms of 
from 14 to 19 years standing, and Ward’s “Guide to Lon- 
don,” now in its sixteenth year. Most of these are revised 
each year. For the benefit of pedestrians there are issued 
“Rustic Walking Routes,” by Evans, and “Walk from Lon- 
don to Fulham,” by Crocker. Chetwynd also has written- an 
“Environs of London,” a guide for team or cycle. 

For the rest of Great Britain there are locality books too 
numerous to mention. In any town book-shop one may take 
his choice between several relating to the vicinity. Then 
there are such books as Bradshaw’s Dictionary of Health 
Resorts; an Oarsman’s Guide to the Rivers and Canals of 
Great Britain and Ireland; Cowper’s Sailing Tours, for 
yachtsmen; a dozen handbooks for cyclists; the Spas of 
Wales; Rock-climbing in the English Lake District, etc. etc. 
For Ireland five of the larger firms have issued a guide book 
each; the French publisher, Balliere, has issued one, Flinn’s 
“Ireland,” -and of more pretentious nature and to be highly 
recommended is Russell’s “Beauties and Antiquities of Ire- 
land.” 

Switzerland has a dozen or two of the Orell-Fussli 
guides, nearly as many of the Woerl series, and one each of 
the English publications. In addition there are: “The Eng- 
lish Red-Book for Switzerland,” issued by Paul; “Pictur- 
esque an-d Descriptive Guide,” by Ward, Lock & Co., and 
“How to Visit Switzerland,” by Lunn, who is a conductor of 
large excursions and has also written, “How to Visit Italy.” 

Visitors to Austria will find at their hand Singer and 
Wolfner’s “Handbook,” which includes Hungary and Buda- 
pest; and Malleson’s “Lakes and Rivers of Austria, Bavaria 
and Hungary,” which is a little more in detail than the Eng- 
lish publishers’ volumes. Norway has two guidebooks, Ben- 
net’s “Handbook,” and Goodman’s “Best Tour.” This coun- 
try is coming into prominence and has been the subject for 


SOMEWHAT LITERARY. 


24? 


half a dozen descriptive volumes, among which may be noted 
Keary’s compact little book on “Norway and the Norwe- 
gians,” and “New Ground in Norway,” published by Newnes. 
In the latter the author describes regions little known to us, 
but to which the Norwegians themselves have made their 
way in summer, much as we go to the White Mountains 
or to the seashore. Sweden has perhaps the strongest Tour- 
ists’ Club of any of the European countries. It has eight or 
ten thousand members, most of whom travel more or less, 
and with certain advantages. For the benefit of its members 
the Swedish Club issues at short intervals its “*Guides,” which 
may be procured in German or in English. 

In all the other parts of Europe frequented by travelers 
one may find locality hand-books costing usually 10 or 20 
cents, which will effectively supplement the satchel guides 
for those who feel they cannot afford Baedekers, but don’t 
get along without the Baedekers if you can help it. 

Then, too, there are the more costly volumes that are 
and are not guide-books, not designed to meet the more 
prosaic needs of the tourist, but meant to make his sight- 
seeing more intelligent and instructive. Some of them have 
genuine literary merit, such as the Hare volumes, — Walks 
in Paris, Walks in Rome, Cities of Southern Italy and Sicily, 
etc. As Mr. Ritchie well says, Rome seen without “Hare’s 
Walks” in hand is but half seen. Routledge prints the vol- 
umes with paper, type and margins that suit them to the 
library shelf rather than to the traveler’s satchel, and they are 
hardly worth attention on the spot from the man who can 
stay only a day or two, but I would urge them on anybody 
passing a week or more in any of the places they cover. 

Akin to these are such volumes as those of 'Mrs. Clement 
on Constantinople, Venice, Naples, all handscxme'ly illus- 
trated; one of the same sort on Florence, by Virginia W. 
Johnson; on Rouen, by Theodore A. Cook; on Nuremburg, 
by Cecil Headlam; and other of the smaller cities o'f the Con- 
tinent. These can generally be found in the book-s<hops of 
the place to which they relate. Remember Ruskin’s Stones 
of Venice. Tourists who visit the chateau district south- 
west of Paris will enjoy “A Little Tour in France,” by 


248 


GOING ABROAD? 


Henry James. Those who desire to understand thoroughly 
the development of cities where they may tarry, will pro'fit- 
ably study such boo-ks as Mrs. Oliphant’s “The Makers of 
Florence” and “The Makers of Venice.” In the same class, 
of boo-ks relating to the past rather than the present, are 
Grant Allen’s Historical Guides to Florence, Venice, Paris 
and the cities of Belgium. I think the last of the many vol- 
umes by this versatile writer to appear before his death, in 
1899, was “The European Tour,” designed particularly to be 
of service to Americans contemplating a journey abroad. 
It deals entirely with the educational aspect of the matter, 
telling what the author thought worth the seeing, and why. 
His verdict on Belgium differs radically from mine, given in 
an earlier chapter, for he says that “except Italy there is 
nothing in Europe so valuable, so instructive as Belgium. 
The reason is that Belgium in the North, like Italy in the 
South, formed the commercial and also therefore the artistic 
centre of mediaevalism.” Acumen of this sort will suggest 
how useful the book may be to anyone going to Europe 
with study of its art and history as the all important motive. 
Indeed, Mr. Allen started out by expressing the belief that a 
year ol travel in Europe is worth more than a college educa- 
tion, and should be preferred were there choice between the 
two. Few will accept this dictum, but it need not prevent the 
book from inspiring and stimulating the desire to make the 
trip give more culture. 

The use of guide-books pure and simple is worth a mo- 
ment’s reflection, for otherwise they may prove great time- 
wasters. Voluminous guides like those of Baedeker some- 
times confuse and embarrass the novice in travel, not yet 
trained in deciding what he wants to see or should see. At 
the outset the conscientious man sallies forth each day with 
the intention of seeing everything the guide book mentions. 
Happy the hour when he frees himself from its thralldom! 
It is worse than useless to go through a museum or gallery 
as a merchant goes through his shop when he takes account 
of stock. That course inevitably wastes time on minor mat- 
ters, insignificant details; they cannot be remembered, and 
too often result in such a mental jumble that the really im- 


SOMEWHAT LITERARY. 


249 


portant things are lost from sight. That is the chief reason 
why my personal preference is against the use of catalogues 
in galleries. I would rather ramble along, enjoying what 
pleases me, than bore myself by learning that No. 49 was 
painted by an artist of whom I never heard and don’t want 
to hear. But each to his taste, and anybody w<ho wants to be 
sure that he has seen So-and-So’s Madonna, or Somebody’s 
St. Sebastian, is welcome to indulge his fondness for facts. 

Tourists who rely on their own researches will find 
maps indispensable, especially in cities like Paris and Lon- 
don. The Baedekers contain so many of these that it will 
often prove cheaper to buy a Baedeker in the first place. 
Old or second-hand copies are just as good for the maps, and 
for most of the information; but they should not be implicitly 
trusted in regard to such matters as the hours when museums 
are open. Indeed, changes in these particulars are so fre- 
quent that no guide-book can keep up with them, and it will 
always be safer to verify by inquiry at the hotel. 

HISTORICAL AND PLACE NOVELS. 

It is both pleasant and profitable to read notable his- 
torical novels and novels of places in the cities or regions 
where their scenes are laid. Naturally of those written in 
English more relate to England than to ajny other country, 
and they are so many that it it is hard to make selectio-n, 
particularly in the matter of London, w'hich has been taken 
as the scene of hundreds of novels. Dickens, ho<wever, 
stands so far above all the rest as the great novelist of Lon- 
don that I shall mention no others, barring only Sir Walter 
Besant, some of whose books, notably “All Sorts and Con- 
ditions of Men,” tell of a London that has grown up since 
Dickens’ time. The cathedral towns have been favorites 
with many story tellers. Anthony Trollope’s Barchester se- 
ries will prove entertaining in any of them, and “The Silence 
of Dean Maitland” has much of its action laid in Winchester, 
though the scene of the tragedy unfolded in the opening 
chapters is supposed to have been not far from Newport on 
the Isle of Wight. Other stories that pertain to places along 
the Channel are Besant’s “By Celia’s Atbor,” Portsmouth, 


250 


GOING ABROAD? 


and “ ’Twas in Trafalgar’s Bay,” Lyme-Regis; Jane Austen’s 
“Persuasion,” also Lyme-Regis; Besant’s “Armorel of Lyon^ 
nesse,” the Scilly Isles; Victor Hugo’s “The Toilers of the 
Sea,” Gilbert Parker’s “Battle of the Strong,” and Hesba 
Stratton’s “The Doctor’s Dilemma,” Channel Islands. The 
stories told by “Q.” (A. T. Quiller Couch), mostly relate to 
Cornwall. Blackmore wrote Devonshire stories, with 
“Lorna Doone” head and shoulders above the rest, but with 
“Springhaven” and “Perleycross” also good Devon tales. 
Mrs. Louisa Parr’s “Loyalty George” is another Devon 
story, and the opening chapters of Charles Kingsley’s inim- 
itable “Westward Ho” are laid in Biddeford. Thomas Hardy 
writes much about the region anciently the kingdom of 
Wessex, most of the places and people he describes being of 
what is now known as Dorset, the country north and west of 
Southampton and Winchester. Going farther north one 
comes to Warwickshire and the region from Oxford to 
Derby, the scene of .Scott’s “Kenilworth” and “Woodstock,” 
and George Eliot’s best novels. At Stratford William 
Black’s “Judith Shakespeare” will edify. Then comes Rugby, 
known to every boy because “Tom Brown” went to school 
there. The fen country about Cambridge was the locality of 
Kingsley’s “Hereward.” Charlotte Bronte’s “Shirley” is a 
Yorkshire tale. “Love and Quiet Life,” by Tom Cobleigh 
(Walter Raymond), tells of Somersetshire. Miss Mitford’s 
“Our Village” was in Berkshire. Mrs. Gaskell’s “Cranford” 
will do for any English village, and her “M.ary Barton” con- 
cerned Manchester. Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote 
“That Lass o’ Lowries ’’about Lancashire incidents. 

Scotland has furnished some of the most noted 'Story 
tellers and the scenes for many stirring novels. It is needless 
to enumerate those of the great Sir Walter, for everybody 
VvLo reads novels knows that “The Heart of Midlothian” and 
ihe rest are Scotch tales. Then there is an old favorite with 
the boys, Jane Porter’s “Scottish Chiefs,” and the books by 
the newer generation of Scotch literary artis'ts, — Stevenson 
(“Kidnapped” and “The Master of Ballantrae”), Barrie 
(“The Little Minister” a*nd the other Thrum stories), 
Ian Maclaren, and Crockett, William Black’s best stories 


■ SOMEWHAT LITERARY. 


251 


are of the Scottish highlands o-r islands. The' Isle of Man 
has been laid bare to the world by Hall Caine. The great 
Irish novelists have been Charles Lever and Samuel Lover. 
Much about Wales and the Welsh is told in a recent novel 
that has met with favor, Dunton’s “Aylwin.” 

French novels have for the most part dealt more with the 
scum and froth of Parisian life than with France itself, its 
history or its regions. The more thoughtful Frenchmen deny 
that the ordinary French novel is a true portrayal of their 
countrymen or countrywomen. But a noteworthy exception 
was the work of Balzac, who undertook in a voluminous se- 
ries of stories under the general title of “The Human 
Comedy,” to depict every class and type in the whole social 
scale of his time. The wonderful result makes many claim 
for him the rank of the foremost of the world’s novelists. 
For understanding the France of the period after Napoleon’s 
downfall, nothing could be better. Numerous translations 
have been made, and notably good are those of Miss W'orme- 
ley. Paris, like London, abounds in stories, among them 
Dickens’ “Tale of Two Cities,” covering both places at the 
Terror epoch. Hugo’s “Hunchback of Notre Dame” should 
surely be read in Paris, and Du Maurier’s “Trilby” by any 
one staying in the I.atin Quarter. The scene of Philip Gil- 
bert Hamertcn’s “Mamorne” is laid in Burgundy, and the 
book gives some of the best descriptions of French country 
life to be found in English literature. Read Scott’s “Quentin 
Durward” in Tours. Blanche Howard Willis’ “Guenn” 
should be read in Brittany, and also, in the original. Loti’s 
“Pecheur d’Islande.” Students of French will find a fas- 
cinating story with scenes scattered over France, in “Sans 
Famille.” The Erckmann-Chatrain books have been trans- 
lated into English, and are among the best military stories 
of the century. 

Italy has furnished the motives and the scenes for much 
good fiction. The best Italian novel is Manzoni’s “The 
Betrothed,” which will be found easy reading by beginners 
in Italian, or can be had in translation; the incidents occur 
about the Italian Lakes and Milan. Two great v/riters have 
written up Italy in the story form, George Sand with “Con- 


252 


GOING ABROAD? 


suelo,” and Andersen with “The Impfovisatore/’ Rome 
past and present has been a prolihc theme for the novelist. 
For a course of Roman novel reading one might begin with 
“The Gladiators,” and follow it up with “Quo Vadis?” Canon 
Farrar's “Darkness and Dawn,” William Ware’s “Zenobia,’’ 
“Julian,” and “Aurelian”; Bulwer Lyttcn’s “Rienzi,” Guer- 
razzi’s “Beatrice Cenci,” Hawthorne’s “Marble Faun,” Hen- 
derson’s “The Prelate,” M. A. Tincker’s books, and finish 
with Crawford’s Saracinesca series. At Naples read “The 
Last Days of Pompeii,” Marie Corelli’s “Vendetta,” Mrs. 
Stowe’s “Agnes of Sorrento,” and Crawford’s “Adam John- 
stone’s Son,” all the action of the last named occurring at 
Amalfi. “Romola,” of course, is the great story for Flor- 
ence. Howells’ “A Foregone Conclusion” relates to Venice, 
Ruffini’s “Doctor Antonio” to the Riviera. 

Few novels of lasting reputation have been written about 
Germany, — at least that have become commonly known to 
the English reading public. Charles Reade’s best work, 
“The Cloister and the Hearth,” in part concerns Germany, 
Miss Muhlbach and the Baroness Tautphoeus have written 
German stories that do nobody any hurt. The best known 
novel by Mrs. Charles, “The Chronicles of the Schonberg- 
Cotta Family,” deals with Luther and the Reformation. 
Marlitt and Auerbach are other names to be looked up in 
library catalogues. 

Maarten Maartens is the first Dutch novelist to arouse 
the enthusiasm of the English reading public. Bjornson 
and Boyesen are the Scandinavian novelists known in Amer- 
ica, Tolstoi and Turgenieff the Russian. Spanish novels by 
Valdes have been translated by N. H. Dole. Fuller’s “Chat- 
elaine of La Trinite” and Harraden’s “Ships That Pass in 
the Night” are located in .Switzerland. Tourists in Egypt 
may peruse with enjoyment Kingsley’s “Hypatia,” and for 
stories with a modern setting “Kismet,” by Geo^e Fleming 
(Julia C. Fletcher), and Adeline Sergeant’s “Beyond Recall” 
and “Christine.” 

It would not be worth while taking any of these from 
home. They can all be bought at the bookseller’s in the 
place to which they refer, or so nearly all that it would not 


SOMEWHAT LITERARY. 


253 


pay to make any provision against inability thus to buy 
them. On the Continent the Tauchnitz editions will be found 
everywhere, — good print, paper covers, and reasonable in 
price. Novels should be read on the spot, or soon after- 
ward; there is no advantage in reading them before going to 
the place, for unless the reader has an abnormal memory, 
few of them will remain in the mind without knowledge of 
localities at the time of reading. 

By the w^ay, novels and most other books are customarily 
sold in paper covers on the Continent, because book buyers 
there generally prefer to have their binding done to order on 
such books as they find worth keeping. Consequently the 
price for binding to order is cheap. 

PREPARATORY READING. 

Some reading, however, can profitably be done before 
leaving home, and a winter’s preparatory work is none too 
much. Most helpful will be found such historical knowledge 
as can be acquired. Let it be personal history rather than 
political, constitutional, or military. Except Waterloo, the 
traveler sees few battle-fields, almost none that can greatly in- 
terest the imagination. With constitutions, governments, and 
politics he rarely comes in contact. But the pleasure of his 
excursions to Versailles and Fontainebleau will be heightened 
by knowing something about the kings and queens and 
nobles who once lived there; sleepy, monotonous Holland 
wdll become alive with interest if the story of William the 
Silent and his heroic friends is familiar; Napoleon’s magic 
name vivifies and glorifies a thousand places; the historical 
personages idealized by Sir Walter Scott must be known in 
order that the scenes of their romantic and chivalrous deeds 
can be enjoyed to the utmost; the Alhambra and the Alcazar 
fail of their true significance if the wonderful record of 
Moorish achievement in Spain has never been scanned; the 
Colosseum is but an artificial quarry, the Forum an ugly 
excavation, the Palatine a rubbish-strewn hill to the traveler 
who knows naught of the Caesars. 

Next in importance to the biographical side of general 
history, comes the history of art, in all its branches. Much 


254 


GOING ABROAD? 


the larger par>t of the sight-seeing hours are given to gal- 
leries, art museums, churches, public buildings that are them- 
selves of artistic value and significance, or contain art treas- 
ures. He errs who thinks that the eye unaided by the intel- 
lect can reveal all their beauties, and that understanding is 
not essen<tial to the full enjoyment of art. A symphony or- 
chestra might delight even a savage; might charm the man 
who couldn’t tell the difference between a trombone and a 
piccolo; but surely it can be appreciated only by the student 
of music. 

I asked Charles H. Moore, Professor of Art in Harvard 
College and author of an authoritative treatise on the De- 
velopment and Character of Gothic Architecture, to prepare 
a list of books that he would advise for the preliminary read- 
ing of persons of ordinary culture planning a European tour. 
Professor Moore suggests the following: F. D. Tarbell’s 

“History of Greek Art,” published by Flood & Vincent, 
Meadville, Penn.; Reber’s “History of Mediaeval Art,” Har- 
per & Bros., New York; Russell Sturgis’ “European Archi- 
tecture,” the Macmillan Co., New York; Rose G. Kingsley’s 
“History of French Art,” Longmans, Green & Co., New 
York; C. E. Norton’s “Church Building in the Middle 
Ages,” Harper & Bros., New York; Longfellow’s “The Col- 
umn and the Ardh,” Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York; H. 
Taine’s “Art in the Netherlands,” Leypoldt & Holt, New 
York. 

Be sure that nc hours will be wasted in learning how Art 
conquered the mediaeval Italian, wherein St. Mark’s differs 
from St. Paul’s, what were the lives of Raphael and of Michel 
Angelo; in acquiring the power to distinguish at a glance 
Tonic, Doric, and Corinthian columns, in mastering the de- 
tails of Romanesque, Byzantine or Gothic architecture, in 
finding out What the disciples of the impressionist school of 
painting are striving to effect. Be sure that the more you 
know on any topic when you leave home, the better estimate 
will you put on your ignorance when you return, and the 
keener ambition will you have for knowledge. In that di- 
rection lies one of the greatest benefits of travel, — it teaches 
a man how small he is, how much he has to learn* 


APPENDIX. 


WHERE TO FIND FAMOUS WORKS OF ART. 

The following lists of famous works of art abroad make no 
pretence of being complete, but may be of use for reference: — 

STATUES. 

Dying Gladiator, Capitoline, Rome. 

Marble Faun. Canitoline, Rome. 

Laocoon, Vatican, Rome. 

Apollo Belvidere, Vatican, Rome. 

Venus de Medici, IJffizzi, Florence. 

The Grinder, Uffizzi, Florence. 

Venus de Milo, Louvre, Paris. 

Farnese Bull, Museum, Naples. 

Barberini Faun, Glyptothek, Munich. 

Venus Callipyge, Museum, Naples. 

Venus of the Capitol, Capitoline, Rome. 

Venus of Capua, Museum, Naples. 

Venus of Knidos, Vatican, Rome. 

Venus of the Hermitage, Hermitage, St. Petersburg. 

Belvidere Mercury, Vatican, Rome. 

Elgin Marbles, British Museum. London. 

Group of Niobe, Uffizzi, Florence. 

Michel Angelo's Moses, S. Pietro in Vincoli, Rome. 

Michel Angelo’s Pieta, St. Peter’s, Rome. 

Michel Angelo’s David, Academy, Florence. 

Michel Angelo’s Day and Night, S. Lorenzo, Florence. 

Michel Angelo’s John the Baptist, Museum, Berlin. 

Cellini’s Perseus, Loggia, Florence. 

Donatello’s David, Bargello, Florence. 

Canova’s Pauline Borghese, Borghese Villa, Rome. 

Canova’s Theseus, Vienna. 

Canova’s Venus, Pitti, Florence. 

Thorwaldsen’s Lion, Lucerne. 

PAINTINGS. 

Raphael’s Madonna del Foligno, Vatican, Rome. 

Raphael’s Madonna del Cardinello, Uffizzi, Florence. 


256 


GOING ABROAD? 


Raphael’s Madonna del Granduca, Pitti, Florence. 

Raphael’s Madonna della Sedia, PiUi, Florence. 

Raphael’s Madonna Conigiaui, Pinakothek, Munich. 

Raphael’s ^fadonna di Tempi, Pinakothek, Munich. 

Raphael’s Sistine Madonna, Gallery, Dresden. 

Raphael’s Madonna— La Belle Jardiniere, Louvre, Paris. 
Raphael’s Madonna al Verde, Vienna. 

Raphael’s Frescoes, Vatican, Rome. 

Raphael’s Transfiguration, Vatican, Rome. 

Raphael’s Galatea, Villa Farnesina, Rome. 

Raphael’s Pope Julius II., Pitti, Florence. 

Raphael’s Virgin of the House of Alba, Hermitage, St. 
Petersburg. 

Raphael’s Madonna del Duca di Terranuova, Museum, Berlin. 
Raphael’s St. Catherine, National Gallery, London. 

Titian’s Assumption, Academy, Venice. 

Titian’s Presentation, Academy, Venice. 

Titian’s Madonna of the Pesaro Family, Frari, Venice. 

Titian’s Venus of Urbino, UflSzzi, Florence. 

Titian’s Flora, Uffizzi, Florence. 

Titian’s La Bella, Pitti, Florence. 

Titian’s Artless and Sated Love, Borghese, Rome. 

Titian’s Fintombment, Louvre, Paris. 

Titian’s Venus del Pardo, Louvre, Paris. 

Titian’s Christ Crowned with Thorns, Louvre, Paris. 

Titian’s Disciples at Emmaus, Ijouvre, Paris. 

Titian’s Tribute Money, Gallery, Dresden. 

Titian’s St. Sebastian, Vatican, Rome. 

Correggio’s Betrothal of St. Catherine, Louvre, Paris. 
Correggio’s La Zingarella, Museum, Naples. 

Correggio’s Ecce Homo, National Gallery, London. 

Correggio’s Holy Family, National Gallery, London. 

Correggio’s Leda, Museum, Berlin. 

Correggio’s La Notte, Gallery, Dresden. 

Correggio’s Magdalen, Gallery, Dresden. 

Correggio’s Madonna Enthroned, Gallery, Dresden. 

Correggio’s Antiope and Jupiter, Louvre, Paris. 

Rubens’ Raising of Lazarus, Museum, Berlin. 

Rubens’ Judgment of Paris, National Gallery, London. 

Rubens’ Rape of the Sabines, National Gallery, London. 
Rubens’ Crucifixion, Museum, Antwerp. 

Rubens’ Adoration of the Magi, Museum, Antwerp. 

Rubens’ Holy Family, Museum, Antwerp. 

Rubens’ Last Judgment, Pinakothek, Munich. 

Rubens’ Battle of the Amazons, Pinakothek, Munich. 

Murillo’s Immaculate Conception, Louvre, Paris. 

Murillo’s Angel de la Guarda, Cathedral, Seville. 

Murillo’s St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Academy, Madrid. 
Murillo’s Holy Family, National Gallery, London, 


APPENDIX. 


257 

Murillo’s Repose in Egypt, Hermitage, St. Petersburg. 
Murillo’s Assumption of tlie Virgin, Hermitage, St. Petersburg. 
Murillo's St. Anthony, Museum, Berlin. 

Murillo’s Boys Playing Dice, Pinakotbek, Munich. 

Rembrandt’s Holy Family, Hermitage, St. Petersburg. 
Rembrandt’s Anotomical Lecture, Gallery, The Hague. 
Rembrandt’s Night Watch, Rijks Museum, Amsterdam. 
Rembrandt’s Woman Taken in Adultery, National Gallery, 
London. 

Rembrandt’s Prodigal Son, Hermitage, St. Petersburg. 
Rembrandt’s Supper at Emmaus, Louvre, Paris. 

Da Vinci’s Last Supper, Milan. 

Da Vinci’s Madonna and Child, Louvre, Paris. 

Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Louvre, Paris. 

Da Vinci’s Holy Family, Hermitage, St. Petersburg. 

Da Vinci’s La Madonna Litta, Hermitage, St. Petersburg. 
Veronese’s Jesus, Academy, Venice. 

Veronese’s Marriage at Cana, Louvre, Paris. 

Veronese’s Family of Darius, National Gallery, London. 
Giotto’s Burial, S. Croce, Florence. 

Giotto’s Frescoes,* Annunziata, Padua. 

Giotto’s St. Francis, Louvre. Paris. 

Del Sarto’s Frescoes, Annunziata, Florence. 

Del Sarto’s Sacrifice of Abraham, Gallery, Dresden. 

Del Sarto’s Madonna, Uffizzi, Florence. 

Fra Angelico’s Angels, Uttizzi, Florence. 

Fra Angelico’s Coronation, Louvre, Paris. 

Fra Angelico’s Frescoes, S. Marco, Florence. 

Fra Angelico’s Last Judgment, Museum, Berlin. 

Del Piombo’s Raising of Lazarus, National Gallery, London. 
Del Piombo’s Andrea Doria, Doria, Rome. 

Paul Potter’s Bull, Gallery, The Hague. 

Paul Potter’s Farmyard, Hermitage, St. Petersburg. 

Dow’s Young Housekeeper, Gallery, The Hague. 

Dow’s Dropsical Woman, Louvre, Paris. 

Claude’s Triumph of Apollo, Doria, Rome. 

Claude’s Seaport, National Gallery, London. 

Van Dyck’s Dead Saviour, Museum, Antwerp. 

Van Dyck’s Pieta, Pinakothek, Munich. 

Van Dyck’s Emperor Charles V., Utfizzi, Florence. 

Van Dyck’s Burgomaster and Wife, Pinakothek, Munich. 

Guido Reni's Aurora, Rospigliosi, Rome. 

Guido Reni's Beatrice Ceiici, Barberini, Rome. 

Guido Reni’s St. Michael and the Dragon, Capuchins, Rome. 
Guido Reni's Ecce Homo, Corslni, Rome. 

Michel Angelo’s Last Judgment, Sistine Chapel, Rome. 
Domenichino’s Last Communion of St. Jerome, Vatican, Rome. 
Domenichino’s Cuinean Sibyl, Borghese, Rome. 

Domenichino’s St, Cecilia, Louvre, Paris. 


258 


GOING ABROAD? 


Palma Vecchio’s Daughter, Museum, Berlin. 

Palma Vecchio’s Venus, Gallery, Dresden. 

Palma Veechio’s Peter and Saints, Academy, Venice. 

Bellini’s Pieta, Museum, Antwerp. 

Bellini’s Madonna, Academy, Venice. 

Quentin Matsys’ Pieta, Museum, Antwerp. 

Velasquez’ Pope Innocent X., Doria, Rome. 

Myth of Psyche, Villa Farnesina, Rome. 

Giorgione’s The Concert, Pitti, Florence. 

Ary Scheffer’s Monica and Augustine, S. Elmo, Seville. 
Campana’s Defiosition from the Cross, Cathedral, Seville. 
Tintoretto’s Works, Doge’s Palace, Venice. 

Perugino’s Virgin and Child, National Gallery, London. 
Perugino’s Resurrection, Vatican, Rome. 

Van du Heist’s Banquet of the Arquehusiers, Museum, Am- 
sterdam. 

Durer’s SS Paul and Mark, Pinakothek, Munich. 

Fra Lippi’s Annunciation, Pinakothek, Munich. 

Da Volterra’s Descent from the Cross, S. Trinita del Monte, 
Rome. 

Holbein’s Portrait of Gisze, Museum, Berlin. 

Holbein’s Meyer Madonna, Gallery, Dresden. 

Mantegna’s Cartoons, Triumph of Caesar, Hampton Court. 
Mantegna’s Madonna of Victory, Louvre, Paris. 

Fra Bartolommeo’s Marriage of St. Catharine, Louvre, Paris. 
Carlo Dolci’s St. Cecilia, Gallery, Dresden. 

Carlo Dolci’s Daughter of Herod ias. Gallery, Dresden. 

Salvator Rosa’s Conspiracy of Catiline, Pitti, Florence. 


SUMMARY OF EXPENSES. 

From the data scattered through this book, it is possible to 
estimate roughly the ordinary travel expenses of three-quarters of 
the Americans who go abroad for a few months, leaving out of ac- 
count one-eighth who travel luxuriously and one-eighth who travel 
penuriously. 

OCEAN PASSAGE: Take for the minimum $40 for a first 

cabin berth in a slow steamer at winter rates; $150 for a good 
berth 0).v no means the costliest) in a fast steamer at summer 
rates. Assume that the discount on a round-trip ticket will pay 
steamer fees, war revenue tax, and boat sundries. 

RAILWAY FARES: United Kingdom, average per mile, 1st 

class, 4 cts. ; 2d class, 2 1-2 cts. ; 3d class, 2 cts. Continent, 1st 
class, 3.6 cts.; 2d class, 2.6 cts.; 3d class, 1.9 cts. 

HOTELS: — Assume that occasional use of pensions or lodgings 
will offset occasional use of costly hotels. Take for the maximum 
Cook hotel coupons, for the minimum cyclist club rates, adding 


APPENDIX. 259 

10 per cent, to each for fees: —United Kingdom, $1.00 to $3.30 a 
day; Continent, $1.50 to $2.75 a day. 

LAUNDRY: 5 to 10 cts. a day. 

CABS, TRAMS, BUSES AND BOAT FARES: 20 to 50 cts. 

a day. 

ADMISSIONS AND GUIDES: 10 to 50 cts. a day. 

MISCELLANEOUS: 10 to 50 cts. a day. 

No estimate for drinks, tobacco, theatre, i)ooks, etc. 

For illustration, figure out the cost of a ten weeks’ trip over 
a common route, — Liverpool, Edinburgh, London, Belgium, Hol- 
land, Rhine, Switzerland, Venice, Florence, Riviera, Paris, London, 
Oxford, Liverpool, — New York to New York; allow 16 days on the 
ocean and 54 on land; add a few miles to the figures of Distance 
Table for side-trii) tickets, etc. : — 


Minimum. Maximum. 


Ocean Passage $80.00 $300.00 

Railway Fares: 

1,000 miles in Great Britain 20.00 40.00 

2,400 miles on the Continent 45.60 86.40 

Hotels: — 

15 days in Great Britain 24.90 54.78 

39 daj’s on the Continent 58.50 107.25 

Laundry 3.50 7.00 

Cabs, trams, ’buses and boat fares 10.80 27.00 

Admissions and guides 5.40 27.00 

Miscellaneous 5.40 27.00 


$254.10 $676.43 

The assertion may be hazarded that the average of these totals, 
$465.26, is not very far from the average ordinary travel expendi- 
ture of Americans making such a trip for the first time. It will 
be seen that this figures out close to $5 a day for the average 
of expenditure while on shore, with the minimum a little over $3 
and the maximum a trifle under $7. It has been shown that 
Europe on a dollar a day or even less in a possibility, and doubtless 
many Americans spend $10 a day or more, but the range from 
$3 to $7 is that of three-quarters of the tourists making long jour- 
neys and short stays. If the same distance were to be covered 
in twice the time, lessening the average daily railroad cost and 
making It possible to get more pension rates, the range would be 
perhaps from $2.20 to $5.50 a day, with .$3.85 as the average. 

Three-quarters of the bicycle tourists using no trains, seldom 
staying more than a night or two in a place, passing little time 
In city hotels, and dividing the tour between England and the 
continent, will range in ordinary travel expenditure while on 
shore from $2 to $3. .50 a day, with $2.50 the average, for there 
are more making the lower than the higher expenditure. Includ- 


26 o 


GOING ABROAD? 


Ing ocean passage, it may be said that a two months’ bicycle tour 
abroad will cost most cyclists from $160 to $480, according to the 
steamers used and the shore expenditure preferred, with $250 per- 
haps the average outlay; for three months the range would be from 
$220 to $535, with $325 the average. 


WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 


The metric or decimal system is in common use in all the 
countries of Europe except Great Britain and Russia, where its use 
is permissive and as with us is practically confined to some scien- 
tific work. 

LENGTH: The denominations likely to be found in every 
day use are the millimetre, 0.0393 inches; the centimetre, 0.393 
inches; the metre, 39.37 inches, and the kilometre, 3,280 feet 10 
inches, being 1000 metres. It is easy to fix in mind that the 
metre is three feet three inches and three tenths of an inch, or 
thereabouts; that a kilometre is, in round terms, three-fifths of a 
mile, being in fact only 112 feet in excess thereof. 

WEIGHT: The common denominations are the gram, 0.035 

ounce, or 15.4 grains; the kilo (contraction for kilogram), 2.2 
pounds; and the metric ton, 2204.6 pounds. 

CAPACITY: 3i'he common denominations are the cubic centi- 

metre, 0.061 cubic inch; and the litre, 0.91 quart dry, or 1.1 quart 
liquid. Those who find the memory aided by the adage that “a 
pint’s a pound the world round,” c.nn find a more nearly accurate 
mnemonic rhjune in ‘‘a litre’s a kilo from any old billow,” for 
as a matter of fact a kilogram is the weight of a litre of water 
at its maximum density. If one wants further to jog the memory 
with jingles, he will for travel purposes come near enough if he 
commits: ‘‘Said Paul to Peter, a yard’s a metre, a quart’s a 
litre.” 

SURFACE: The only term met frequently is the hectare, 

2.471 acres, so that there are about 259 hectares in a square 
mile. 

In traveling one is more likely than at hoTiie to have occa- 
sion to remember that 5280 feet make a mile, 6080 feet a sea mile, 
16 1-2 feet a rod, 40 rods or 660 feet a furlong, 8 furlongs a mile, 
and three miles a league: that 6 feet make a fathom, and 120 
fathoms or 720 feet a cable length: that in circular measure 60 
seconds make a minute, 60 minutes a degree, and 360 degrees 
the circle: that a hand (most frequently applied to a horse’s 
height) is four inches. The stone is a measure not yet obsolete in 
England; legally it is 14 pounds, but in practice varies with the 
article weighed, a stone of butcher’s meat or fish being reckoned 
at 8 pounds; of cheese, 16 pounds; of hemp, 32 pounds; of 
glass, 5 pounds. The English hundred weight is 112 pounds. 


APPENDIX. 


261 


The Russian verst is almost exactly two-thirds of an English 
mile. The Norwegian mile is 7.021 English miles; Swedish, 6.644; 
Austrian, 4.714; Danish, 4.682, the Dutch ure, 8.458; the Swiss 
stunde, 2.987. 


FUNNEL MARKS, HOUSE FLAOS, AND NIGHT SIGNALS 

Of the Principal Atlantic Passenger Lines, By Which 
Passing Vessels at Sea May Be Recognized. 


ALLAN LINE.— Funnel— Red with white ring under black top. 
House Flag— Red, white and blue with pennant. Night Signals— 
Three green lights in the form of a triangle in the mizzen rigging. 

ALLAN STATE LINE.— Funnel— Buff with red ring under black 
top. Night Signals — Blue, red Coston light. 

AMERICAN LINE.— Funnel— Black with white band and black 
top. House Flag- White with blue eagle. Night Signals— Blue 
light forward and aft and red light on the bridge simultaneously. 

ANCHOR LINE.— Funnel-Black. House Flag— White swallow- 
tail with red anchor. Night Signals — Red and white lights alter- 
nately. 

CUNARD LINE. — Funnel — Red with black top. House Flag — 
Red with rampant lion. Night Signals — Blue Light and two Roman 
candles throwing six blue balls each. 

FRENCH lilNE. — Funnel — Red with black top. House Flag — 
White, red ball in corner and name Cie Gne. Transatlantique. 
Night Signals— AVhite light amidships, then blue, white and red 
lights forward, amidships and aft simultaneously. 

HAMBURG LINE. — Funnel — Cream Color. House Flag — White 
and blue with an anchor and yellow shield bearing the letters 
H. A. P. A. G. Night Signals — White, red, and blue fire balls, 
three each in succession, half a m.inute interval. 

NETHERLANDS LINE. — Funnel — Black with green, white and 
green band. Night Signals — Green light forward and aft and white 
light on the bridge simultaneously. 

NORTH GERMAN LLOYDS.— Funnel— Cream Color. House 
Flag — W'hite, key and anchor crossed in centre of an oak-leaf 
wreath, blue. Night Signals — Blue lights changing to red, one for- 
ward and one aft. 

RED STAR LINE. — Funnel — Cream color and black top with 
red star. House Flag — White swallowtail with red star. Night 
Signals — Red light forward and aft and on the bridge simultane- 
ously. 

WHIl'E STAR LINE. — Funnel — Cream with black top. House 
Flag- Red swallowtail with white star. Night Signals— Two green 
lights burning simultaneously. 


262 


GOING ABROAD? 


OCEAN DISTANCES. 


The trans-Atlnntic steamer lines nse different routes or 
“tracks” in crossinc: the ocean, and each varies its track according 
to the season of the year. Furthermore, storms or fogs and cur- 
rents may so alter the course of a boat that she will travel many 
more miles than expected. The following distances approximate 
the shortest course followed by the liners: 


From. 
New York 


Philadelphia 

i i 

Boston 

ii 


To. 

Queenstown. 
Liverpool . . . 
Southampton 
Glasgow .... 
Antwerp . . . . 

London 

Havre 

Bremen 

Hamburg . . . 
.Southampton 
Liverpool . . . 
Queenstown . 
Liverpool . . . 


Miles. 
.2,800 
.3,045 
.3,110 
.3,370 
..3,430 
.3,180 
.3,200 
.3,540 
.3,. 590 
.3,500 
.3,225 
. .2,055 
.2,890 


Montreal Quebec 180 

Quebec Cape Race 820 

Cape Race Tory Island 1,740 

Tory Island Liverpool 240 2,980 


Montreal . . . 

Quebec 

Belle Isle. . . 
Tory Island 


Quebec 180 

Belle Isle 733 

Tory Island 1,656 

Liverpool 240 


2,809 


From. 

Dublin. 


Belfast. 

i i 

Douglas 

Hull... . 


a 

Newcastle, 


a 


IN EUROPEAN WATERS. 


To. Miles. 

.Holyhead 69 

.Douglas 94 

.Liverpool 138 

.Liverpool 156 

.Glasgow 129 

. Liverpool 75 

.Bergen 499 

.Christiania 558 

.Copenhagen 621 

.Bergen 392 

Christiania 488 

Copenhagen 580 


APPENDIX. 


263 


Loudon.. , 
Gibraltar 
Malta. . . . 
London. . , 
Harwich. 


Queen boro’ . . 

Dover 

Southampton 

Cologne 

Genoa 

Brindisi 


Alexandria 


Gibraltar 

• Malta 

Alexandria 

FMinburgh 

Hook of Holland 

Rotterdam 

Antwerp 

Hamburg 

Flushing 

• Ostend 

Guernsey 

St. Malo 

Mayence 

.Naples 

.Alexandria 

.Port Said 

.Piraeus 

.Constantinople . 
Constantinople . 
..Jaffa 


1299 

981 

820 

580 

109 
120 
140 
370 

110 
60 

.113 

174 

114 

333 

836 

930 

.482 

.845 

1332 

270 


LONDON TO PARIS. 



Rail 

Boat 

Total 

Aver. 

Fares 

Route 

Miles 

Miles 

Miles 

til'll 6 
hours 

1st 

2nd 






Class 

Class 

F olkestone-Boulogne 

230 

64 

260 


$12.80 

$8.75 

Dover-Calais 

261 

32 

283 

8 

13.83 

9.48 

Newhaven-Dieppe 

163 

20 

227 

10 

8.41 

6.22 

Southampton-Havre 

221 

122 

343 

15 

8.32 

6.03 


(Most experienced tourists take 2nd or 3rd class rail and 1st class boat 
tickets. The Southampton-Havre boats make night passages only; no 
extra charge for berths.) 


POINTS OF THE COMPASS. 

The points of the compass in their order round the circle 
are: north, north-by-east, north-north-east, north-east-by-north, 

north-east, north-east-by-east, east-north-east, east-by-rorth, east, 
east-by-south, east-sopth-east, south-east-by-east, south-east, south- 
east-by-south, south-south-east, south-by-east, south, south-by-west, 
south-south-west, south-west-by-south, south-west, south-west-by- 
west, west-south-west, w-'est-by-south, west, west-by-north, w^est- 
north-w'est, north-w^est-by-w'est, north-west, north-west-by-north, 
north-north-west, north-by-w'est, north. 


264 


DISTANCES IN ENGLISH MILES. 


196 

l.i3 

408 

412 

190 

191 

119 

76 

129 

82 

222 

Bristol. 

0; 

be 

133 

3.)2 

384 

47 

195 

5»; 

77 

281 

135 

147 

Cambridge. 


470 

478 

148 

279 

77 

110 

180 

125 

263 

Dover. 


, 

46 

399 

217 

393 

381 

537 

472 

205 

Edinburgh. 

a 9 


431 

221 

401 

388 

551 

458 

240 

Glasgow. 


• 

212 

71 

134 

279 

150 

194 

Harwich. 

rj tX) 0 

^ 


202 

167 

320 

237 

100 

Livei-pool. 

T3 0 

r.-’i 'T 0 


63 

225 

79 

188 

London. 

" " 5 & § 

• 

207 

70 

198 

Oxford. 

HH 0) 'd ^ 

a 0 

• 

170 

351 

Plymouth. 

•r; 0 <4_i ^ 

•-5 ^ « ti 

« 

267 

Southampton. 

0 I § 

iVvi: H M 4-j 


York. 




03 

■4-> 

p 

o 

m 


o 


Dublin to Belfast 113 

Dublin to Londonderry... 209 
Edinburgh to Newcastle.. 125 
York to Newcastle... «i 

York to Hull 39 

London to Queensboro’ . . . '49 
London to Folkestone. . . ^ 72 

to Paris 283 

Cherbourg to Paris 231 

Havre to Paris 142 

D^ppe to Paris loO 

Boulogne to Paris '. . 158 

Ostend to Brussels 78 

Antwerp to Brussels 28 

Antwerp to Rotterdam... CO 
Rotterdam to Amsterdam 53 

Naples to Brindisi 240 

Vienna to Constantinople. 1298 
Berlin to St. Petersburg. 1091 

Paris to Bordeaux 863 

Paris to Madrid 902 

Paris to Lisbon 1323 

Marseilles to Barcelona.. 327 

Madrid to Cadiz 451 

Madrid to Gibraltar 468 

Madrid to Barcelona 435 


Amsterdam 


Basle 


Berlin 


a 

c3 

'P 

u 

O) 

vx 

a 

<3 


487 


412 


Hi 

c3 


604 


OJ 


m 

m 

Xfl 


Xfl 

c3 


O' 

d 




Calais 

282 

486 

631 

142 

U 


Cologne 

157 

331 

359 

139 

281 


9 Cl p 

rv. C3 0 

Florence 

922 

435 

888 

827 

921 

766 


rV a S s 

Geneva 

652 

165 

769 

557 

572 

496 

445 


rr. r ) 

Hamburs: 

320 

552 

178 

404 

546 

277 

977 

717 


p m 

a iU 

Lucerne 

546 

59 

563 

451 

545 

390 

386 

158 

611 

1— ( 

a 2 .a 

Marseilles 

889 

456 

960 

749 

720 

787 

401 

291 

1008 

449 


'-d d ?? 

Milan 

705 

218 

722 

610 

713 

549 

217 

283 

760 

169 

348 


d ^ 
M 0, 

Munich 

528 

220 

428 

610 

652 

371 

460 

394 

557 

236 

732 

384 


c3 55 

*7^ 

Naples |1272 

785 

1176 

1177 

1247 

1116 

351 

758 

1305 

736 

719 

567 

748 


a 0) 

Paris 

353 

337 

651 

213 

184 

305 

750 

388 

582 

396 

536 

555 

582 

1063 

M 

a 

0 

erf d 
o> 

Rome 

1112 

625 

1021 

1017 

1092 

956 

196 

603 

1150 

576 

,564 

407 

593 

155 

908 

Venice 

870 

383 

791 

775 

877 

714 

181 

448 

920 

334 

513 

165 

363 

409 

720 

378 ^ 

Vienna 

733 

590 

483 

739 

857 

576 

569 

729 

605 

571 

901 

553 

299 

797 

849 

766 398 


APPENDIX. 


265 


SPEED OF MAIL STEAMERS. 

Statement showing the number of trips made, the average apparent 
time (in hours) of the trips, and the quickest trip made in conveying the 
mails from New York to London and to Paris during the fiscal year ended 
June 30, 1899, as shown by the records of the Post-ofiice Department. 
(The number of hours does not indicate the time consumed in the sea 
voyage only, but the period between actual receipt of the mails at the post- 
office in New York and delivery at the post-office in London or Paris.) 


Line and Steamer. 


North German Lloyd (New' York to London 
via Southampton) : 

Kaizer Wilhelm der Grosse 

Kaiser Friedrich 

Lahn 

Saale 

Trave 

Cunard (New York to London via Queenstown) : 

Campania 

Lucania 

Etruria 

Umbria 

Servia 

Auranla (*) 

Hamburg-American (New York to London 
via Southampton) : 

Fuerst Bismarck 

Augusta Victoria 

American (New York to London via South- 
hampton) : 

St. Louis 

Paris 

St. Paul (t) 

New York (|) 

White Star (New York to London via Queens- 
town) : 

Majestic 

Teutonic 

Germanic (||) 

Britannic 

Cymric 

General Transatlantic (New York to Paris 
via Havre) ; 

La Champagne 

La Touraine 

La Bretagne 

La Gascogne 

La Navarre 

La Normandie — 


No. of Trips. 

Average time 
per Trip. 

Quickest Trip. 


Hours. 

Hours 

10 

161.4 

152.8 

7 

179.8 

167-4 

11 

193.3 

185.5 

4 

193.9 

188 

10 

195.7 

185.5 

12 

166.5 

160.3 

li 

169.6 

160.3 

12 

179 

173.7 

12 

186.8 

178.1 

6 

216.5 

213.9 

6 

217.7 

201.7 

7 

176.1 

173.6 

5 

191.6 

182.1 

12 

177.9 

167.5 

7 

182.9 

173.3 

9 

185.5 

175.5 

5 

200 

183.7 

13 

178.3 

171.8 

12 

180.7 

174 

8 

207.3 

196 

12 

218.4 

206.8 

8 

244 

232.4 

10 

202.6 

198.3 

11 

204.6 

186.3 

9 

205.8 

200.5 

9 

209.8 

197.6 

3 

216 

209.6 

9 

227 

218.5 


♦Delayed on trip from New York September 6, 1898 (about 2 days). 
fDelayed on trip from New York December 21, 1898 (about 2 days.) 
^Delayed on trip from New York January 11, 1899 (about 23^ days.) 
IlDelayed on trip from New York December 21, 1898 (about 2 days.) 


266 


GOING ABROAD? 


MONEY TABLE. 


U. S. A. 

England. 

France, 

Belgium, 

Switz’d. 

Germany 

Italy. 

Holland, 

Austria. 

Norway, 

Sweden, 

Denmark. 

$ cts. 

£. 8. d. 

Fr. c. 

Mks. pf. 

Lira. c. 

FI. cts. 

Kr. Ore. 

01 

% 

5 

4 

5 

2 

4 

02 

1 

10 

8 

10 

5 

8 

06 

3 

31 

25 

31 

15 

22 

10 

5 

52 

42 

52 

24 

37 

20 

10 

1 00 

85 

1 00 

48 

74 

24 

1 0 

1 25 

1 0 

1 25 

60 

89 

27 

1 2 

1 40 

1 12 

1 40 

67 

1 00 

49 

2 0 

2 50 

2 4 

2 50 

1 20 

1 81 

73 

3 0 

3 75 

3 6 

3 75 

1 80 

2 70 

97 

4 0 

5 00 

4 8 

5 00 

2 40 

3 59 

1 22 

5 0 

6 25 

5 10 

6 25 

3 00 

4 52 

1 95 

8 0 

10 00 

8 16 

10 00 

4 80 

7 22 

2 43 

10 0 

12 50 

10 21 

12 50 

6 00 

9 00 

2 92 

12 0 

15 00 

12 25 

15 00 

7 20 

10 82 

3 41 

14 0 

17 50 

14 28 

17 50 

8 40 

12 63 

3 65 

15 0 

18 75 

15 30 

18 75 

9 00 

13 52 

3 89 

16 0 

20 00 

16 32 

20 00 

9 60 

14 41 

4 38 

18 0 

22 50 

18 36 

22 50 

10 80 

16 22 

4 86 

10 0 

25 00 

20 42 

25 00 

12 00 

IS 00 


THERMOMETERS. 


Reau- 

Centi- 

Fa 

mur. 

grade. 

enhei^ 

80° 

lOOo 

2120 

60 

75 

167 

48 

60 

140 

40 

50 

122 

36 

45 

113 

34 

4214' 

108 

32 

40 

104 

29 

37 

98 

28 

35 

95 

25X 

<M 

SO 

90 

24 

30 

80 

20 

25 

77 

19 

24 

76 

16 

20 

68 

13X 

1714: 

63 

12 

15 

59 

10 

13 

55 

8 

10 

50 

5K 

71^ 

45 


41^ 

40 

1% 

2 

35 

0 

0 

32 

— 4 

— 5 

23 

— 5K 

— 7 

20 

— 8 

—10 

14 

—10 

-121^ 

10 

—12 

—15 

5 

—14 

—18 

0 

—16 

—20 

— 4 

—19 

—24 

—10 

—20 

—25 

—13 

—‘24 

—30 

—20 


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INDE^X. 


Allen, Grant, 248 
Art, Preparatory Study 
of, 264 

Study in Paris, 168 
Automobiles, 79 

Baedekers, 137, 243, 249 
Bags, Traveling, 220 
Baggage. See Luggage 
Bank of England Notes, 
189 

Bank Holidays, 19, 204 
Banking Houses, 185 
Berths, 41 
Bicycle Touring, 86 
Bicycle Tours, Expense 
of, 259 

Bishop, William Henry, 
147 

Boarding-houses, 142 
Boating on the Thames, 
73 

Boats, Tickets on, 70 
Brakes, Bicycle, 98 
Bradshaw, 61 
Bull Fighting in Spain, 
21 

Busses, 181 

Cabin, Choosing a, 40 
Cable, 214 
Cabs, 77, 180 

Cafes, 84, 121,174,181,229 
Camera, Carrying a, 206 
Campanini, 167 
Candles, 125, 130 
Canoeing on the Conti- 
nent, 74 

Carnival at Rome and 
Nice, 17 

Cattle Steamers, 37, 50 
Channel, Crossing the, 
70, 263 

Children, 7, 69, 140, 168 
Circular Tours, 67 
Classes on Cars, 53 
Climates, 10 

Clothing, 45, 74, 81, 84, 
102, 223, 235 
Coaster Brakes, 98 
Coins, 190 

Compartments, Car, 53 
Compass, Points of the, 
263 

Concierges, 174 
Consuls of the L. A. W., 
94 


Coupons for Hotels, 132 
Couriers, 177 
Courtesy on the Conti- 
nent, 231 

Cricket Matches, 20 
Crating Bicycles, 122 
Curios, 204 
Currency, 188 
Custom Houses, 192 
Cyclists’ Touring Club, 
89 


Days Celebrated, 19 
Diligence, The, 75 
Dining Cars, 58 
Distances at Sea, 48, 262 
on Land, 264 
Dogs, 49, 197 
Dougherty, Algernon, 
157 

Dress, 45, 74, 81, 84, 102, 
223, 235 

Drink, 120, 181, 228 
Dutiable Articles, 195 

Elevators, 128 
Etiquette, Commercial, 
235 

Exchange, Bills of, 184 
Excursion Tickets, 67 
Expense Totals,?, 52, 82, 
87, 146, 163, 168, 258 
Express, 211 
Express Checks, 187 

Fares on Railways, 66 
Fees on Shipboard, 44 
on Land, 169 
Films for Cameras, 206 
Fishing, Salmon, in Scot- 
land, 20 

Flower Festival at 
Paris, 21 

Food, 149, 154, 155. 228 
Football Season, 20 
Footwear, 102, 226 
Forwarding Trunks, 212 
Free Wheels, 98 

Gambling, 8 
Gear Cases, 98 
Gears, Bicycle, 99 
Gold, 190 
Guide Books, 243 
Guides, 179, 204 

Headwear, 226 
267 


Heat, 13, 61, 126, 141, 146, 
155, 225 

Health Resorts, 29 
Historical Novels, 249 
Holidays, National, 19 
Holy Week, 17 
Horse Fair in N o r- 
mandy, 21 

Hotels and Touring 
Clubs, 90 

Cost of Living in, 129 
European, 125 
Fees in, 171 
Housekeeping, 146 
Hubert, Philip G., Jr., 
152 

Innkeepers and the 
Law, 121, 140 
International Union of 
Pensions, 143 
Interpreters, 204 

L’Alliance Fran^aise, 
164 

Lamps, Bicycle, 100 
Languages, Study of, 
163, 239 

Laundry, 104, 119, 131, 

259 

League of American 
Wheelmen, 88 
Letters, 47, 208 
Letters of Credit, 185 
Lodgings, 121, 144 
London to Paris, 263 
Luggage on Bicycles, 
99, 119 

on Cars, 63, 218 
at Sations, 64, 146 
on Steamers, 47 
Luncheons, 69 

Malaria at Rome, 14 
Measures and Weights, 

260 

Medicine, Study of, 162 
Melba, Mme., 167 
Meriwether, Lee, 81 
Metric System, 260 
Money, Carrying. 191 
Relative Value of, 190, 
266 

Moore, Prof. Charles 
H., 254 

Music, Study of, 166 
Night Travel, ,58 


268 


INDEX. 


Nilsson, Christine, 166 
Novels of Places, 249 

Ocean Distances, 262 
Ocean Steamers, 35 
Omnibus, The Hotel, 77, 
137 

Sight-seeing from, 181 

Paintings, Famous, 255 
Paper Money, 189 
Parcel Post, 211 
Pardons in Brittany, 18 
Passes into Italy, 26, 112, 
142 

Passports, 216 
Pedestrian Tours, 79 
Pensions, Living in, 

141 

Fees in, 173 

“ Personally Conduct- 
eds,’»177 

Photography, 205 
Physicians’ Charges, 34 
Pickpockets, 66, 182 
Porters, Railway, 64 
Portier, The, 127, 171 
Postal, 208 
Poste Restante, 210 
Prices, Foreign, 198 
Punctures, 95 
Purdy, Theodore, 151 

Quarter Days, 19 

Racing in England, 20 
Railways Cars, 53 
Bicycles on, 123 
Rain in France, 108 
Registration of Lug- 
gage, 63 

Restaurants, 84, 145, 172 
Ritchie, John, Jr., 244 
Roads, 75, 105, 107, 112, 
113 

Rowing Races in Eng- 
land, 20 

Royal Academy, Lon- 
don, 21 

Salons, Parisian, 21 


Salutations, 233 
Sanborn, Alvah F., 83 
Schools, 168 

Sea, Objects Visible at, 
266 

Seasickness, 42 
Season in London and 
Paris, The, 12 
Shipboard, Life on, 38 
Shooting Season in Eng- 
land, 20 
Shopping, 198 
Sleeping Cars, 58 
Smoking in Cars, 60 
Smuggling, 119, 193 
Smoking Materials, 230 
Soap, 126 

Sorbonne, The, 161, 240 
Southern Route, 11, 219 
Souvenirs, 205 
Specialties, Where to 
Buy, 199 
Staterooms, 42 
Statues, Where to Find 
Famous, 255 

Steamboats, European, 
69 

Steamer Chairs, 46 
Steamship Funnels, 
Flags and Signals, 
261 

Speed of Mail, 49, 265 
Steerage, Crossing in 
the, 40 

Stetson, Clarence, 97 
Stewards, 44 
Storing Trunks, 212 
Storms at Sea, 11 
Sugar and Exertion, 85 
Summer Study, 159, 160, 
164 

Table d’Hote, 130, 136, 
139 

Tariff, U. S., 195 
Taylor, Bayard, 79 
Teachers’ Guild, 143, 165 
Temperance Hotels, 134 
Telegraphing, 214 


Thermometers, 266 
Tickets on Railways, 66 
Time, Difference in, 266 
on Shipboard, 45 
Tires, Bicycle, 95 
Tobacco, 197, 230 
Toilet Articles, 221 
Touring Clubs, 88 
Tourist Agencies, 67, 179 
Trains, 62 

Trunks, Forwarding, 212 
on Cabs, 78 
on Steamers, 47 
on Trains, 63 
Packing, 219 
Sealing, in Italy, 65 
Steamer, 218 

Underclothing, 224 
Universities, English, 
158 

French, 161 
German, 160 

Vermin, 128 
Voice Training, 166 

Walking, 79 

Water, Drinking, 120, 
131, 230 

Wagnerian Festival at 
Bayreuth, 21 
Weights and Measures, 
260 

Winds in France, 108 
in Great Britain, 105 
Winter, Crossing in, 11 
Travel in, 11 
Wine, 131, 229 
Women, Cycling Tours 
for, 87 

Dress for, 223 
Treatment of, 9 
Women’s Rest Tour As- 
sociation, 9, 84, 142 
World, Journey Round, 
17 

Wright, Margaret B., 
147, 156 


Countries and. Regions. 


Algeria, Attractions, 28 
Climate, 16 
Health Resort, 30 
Asia Minor, 28 
Austria, Climate, 15 
Cycling, 112 
Festival in, 18 
Guide Books, 247 
Auvergne, Health Re 
sorts, 32 


Belgium, Attractions, 24 
Climate, 15 
Cycling, 109 
Dutiable Goods, 198 
Black Forest, 25, 113 
Brittanv, Attractions, 28, 
72 

Pardons, 18 
Bulgaria, Cycling, 116 


Channel Islands, Attrac- 
tions, 71 
Climate, 16 
Cycling, 106 
Cornwall, Climate, 16 

Denmark, Attractions, 
24 

Climate, 16 
Cycling, 113 


INDEX 


269 


Egypt, Climate, 16 
Engadine, Cycling, 111 
Health Resort, 33 
England. See Great 
Britain 

France, Attractions, 28 
Climate, 103 
Cycling, 106 
Dutiable Goods, 197 
Health Resorts, 29 
Hotels, 92, 135 
Housekeeping, 147 
Language, 163, 239 
Pensions, 141 
Railways, 56, 58 
Rain, 108 
Universities, 161 
Wind, 108 

Germany, Attractions, 
25 

Climate, 15 
Cycling, 112 
Dutiable Goods, 197 
Hotels, 135 
Housekeeping, 152 
Language, 163 
Railways, 54, 56, 57 
Universities, 160 
Great Britain, Attrac- 
tions, 24 

Boarding Houses, 142 
Cheap Living, 82 
Climate, 103 
Cycling, 105 
Dutiable Goods, 197 
Express and Freight, 
212 

Guide Books, 245 
Holidays, 19 
Hotels, 90, 134 
Housekeeping, 156 
Lodgings, 144 
Novels, 249 
Railways, 53, 56 
Shooting and Sport- 
ing, 20 

Universities, 158 
Walking, 84 
Greece, Attractions, 28 
Climate, 17 
Cycling, 116 


Guernsey. See Chan- 
nel Islands 

Hartz Mountains, Cy- 
cling, 113 

Holland, Attractions, 24 
Climate, 15 
Cycling, 109 
Dutiable Goods, 197 

Holy Land, Time to 
Visit, 17 
Tour of, 28 

Ireland, Cycling, 105 
Guide Books, 246 

Italy, Attractions, 27 
Best Time for Visit- 
ing, 13 
Cycling, 111 
Depreciated Cur- 
rency, 189 
Dutiable Goods, 197 
Guide Books, 247 
Hotels, 135 
Housekeeping, 150 
Language, 163 
Novels, 251 
Pensions, 141 
Tax on Tickets, 69 
Thieves, 65 

Jersey. See Channel 
Islands 


Morocco, Climate, 16 

Normandy, Horse Fair, 
21 

Norway. See Scandi- 
navia 

Orkney Islands, Climate, 
16 

Portugal, Cycling, 116 

Rhine Trip, 25, 72 
Riviera, Climate, 13 
Cycling, 108 
Health Resort, 29, 31 
Roumania, Cycling, 116 
Russia, Attractions, 24 


Climate, 10 
Cycling, 114 
Passports, 216 

Scandinavia, Attrac 
tions, 24 
Climate, 10, 16 
Coaching, 75 
Cycling, 114 
Guide Books, 247 
Honesty, 140, 213 
Sailings for, 70 

Scotland, Attractions, 24 
Climate, 10 
Coaching, 75 
Novels, 250 

Also see Great Britain 

Servia, Cycling, 116 

Sicily, Climate, 16 

Spain, Attractions, 28 
Climate, 16 
Cycling, 115 
Hotels, 130 
Housekeeping, 150 
Language, 163 
Smoking, 60 

Switzerland, Climate, 
10, 15 

Coaching, 75 
Cycling, 110 
Dutiable Goods, 197 
Guide Books, 247 
Hotels, 136 
Pensions, 141 
Possible Tour, 26 
Railways, 56, 68 
Steamboats, 72 
Tramping, 83 

Taunus Mountains, 
Health Resorts, of, 
32 

Thames, Boating on the, 
73 

Touraine, Attractions, 
28, 72 

Tunis, Attractions, 28 
Climate, 16 

Turkey, Climate, 17 
Cycling, 116 
Passports, 216 

Tjrol, 112 

Wight, Isle of, 71 


Mention of Places. 


Aalesund, 70 
Abbazia, 33 
Aix-les-Bains, 27, 32 
Ajaccio, 30 
Alexandria, 211, 263 
Algiers, 16, 28, 30 


Amalfi, 13, 27, 252 
Amilie-les-Bains, 30 
Amiens, 28 

Amsterdam, 24, 113,210, 
230, 257, 258, 264, 266 
Angers, 108 


Antibes, 31 

Antwerp, 24, 74, 200, 210, 
256, 257, 258, 262, 263, 
264 

Arcachon, 30 
Ascot, 20 


270 

Athens, 17,28,211 
Avranches, 71 


Baden, 25, 113 
Basle, 264 
Bayreuth, 21 
Barcelona, 264 
Beaulieu, 30 
Belfast, 200, 262, 264 
Bergen, 70, 262 
Berlin, 9, 25, 58, 94, 129, 
147, 160, 163, 167, 168, 
184, 200, 202, 210, 255, 
256, 257, 258, 264, 266 
Bernay, 21 
Berne, 26, 266 
Biarritz, 30 
Bideford, 250 
Birmingham, 212 
Biskra, 30 
Bonn, 25, 160 
Bordeaux, 30, 264 
Boulogne, 108, 123, 262, 
264 

Blois, 150 

Bremen, 11, 74, 210,262 
Breslau, 161 
Brindisi, 263, 264 
Bristol, 264 
Bruges, 200 

Brussels, 24, 157, 200, 264, 
266 

Budapest, 25, 246, 266 


Cadiz, 16, 28, 163, 264 
Cairo, 16, 28 
Calais, 71, 72, 263, 264 
Cambridge, 94, 105, 159, 
250. 264 
Cancale, 72 
Cannes, 29, 31 
Capri, 27 
Cerbere, 115 
Chamonix, 26, 76 
Charlottenburg, 114 
Chateauneuf, 32 
Chatel-Guyon, 32 
Cherbourg, 264 
Christiania, 70, 262 
Christiansand, 70 
Coire, 26 
Colico, 26 

Cologne, 25, 58, 263, 264, 
266 

Constantinople, 17, 28, 
211, 247, 263, 264 
Cookham, 73 
Copenhagen, 24, 70, 262, 
266 

Cordova, 16, 28 
Corfu, 30 
Cork, 105 


INDEX. 


Dieppe, 71, 94, 263, 264 
Dijon, 108 
Douglas, 262 
Dover, 71, 263, 264 
Dresden, 25,152, 154, 168, 
200, 202, 256, 257, :58 
Drontheim, 70 
Dublin, 94, 163, 262, 264 
Dumfries, 94 

Edinburgh, 105, 145, 160, 
259, 263, 264 
Epsom, 20 
Erlangen, 161 
Erquelinnes, 109 
Esbjerg, 70 
Eton, 21 

Falmouth, 16 
Florence, 13, 14, 18, 23, 
27, 112, 151, 168, 200, 
247, 248, 252, 255, 256, 
257, 258, 260, 264 
Fluelen, 26 
Flushing, 263 
Folkestone, 263, 264 
Fontainebleau, 23, 108, 
253 

Frankfort, 32, 33 
Freiburg, 113, 161 

Geneva, 15, 23, 26, 163, 
199, 264 

Genoa, 11, 13, 27,112, 200, 
263 

Ghent, 200 

Gibraltar, 16, 28, 48, 188, 
263, 264 

Glasgow, 105, 262, 264 
Goodwood, 55 
Gothenburg, 70 
Gottingen, 26 
Granada, 28, 150 
Grangemouth, 70 
Granton, 70 
Granville, 71 
Grassina, 18 
Greifswald, 160 
Grimsby, 70 

Haarlem, 24 
Hague, The, 24, 257 
Halle, 161 

Hamburg, 11, 74, 210,262, 
263, 264 

Hampton, 73, 245, 258 
Hango, 70 
Hanover, 168 
Harwich, 70, 263, 264 
Havre, 108, 123, 262, 264 
Heidelberg, 25, 155, 160, 
161 

Helsingborg, 70, 114 
Hendaye, 115 


Henley, 20, 74 
Homburg, 32 
Holyhead, 262 
Hook of Holland, 263 
Hull, 70, 262, 264 
Hyeres, 30 

Innsbruck, 26 
Interlaken, 26 

Jaifa, 263 
Jena, 161 
Jerez, 16, 28,^ 229 

Kiel, 1(^0 
Kingston, 74 
Koenigsberg, 160 

La Bourboule, 32 
Landskrona, 114 
Lausanne, 26, 164 
Lauterbrunnen, 26 
Leipsic, 25, 160, 161, 168, 
245 

Leith, 70 
Leyden, 24 
Lincoln, 145 
Lisbon, 116, 264 
Lisieux, 165 

Liverpool, 11, 20, 48, 52, 
56, 94, 105, 122, 212, 
213, 259, 262, 264 
London, 7, 8, 12, 16, 20, 
21, 23, 56, 58, 71, 72, 
73, 74, 79, 82, 83, 88, 
89, 94, 96, 97, 98, 105, 
106, 122, 134, 142, 143, 
144, 145, 146, 147, 166, 
157, 159, 166, 167, 179, 
198, 200, 202, 205, 210, 
212, 213, 214, 218, 245, 
246, 249, 255, 256, 257, 
258, 259, 262, 263, 264, 
265 

Londonderry, 264 
Lucerne, 15, 26, 27, 200, 
265, 264 
Lugano, 27 
Lyme-Regis, 250 
Lyons, 27, 200 

Macon, 108 

Madrid, 16, 28, 157, 163, 
210, 256, 264 
Maidenhead, 73 
Mainz, 25, 263 
Malaga, 30 
Malmo, 70, 114 
Maloja, 111 
Malta, 263 
Manchester, 105, 260 
Marburg, 161 
Marseilles, .58, 264 
Martigny, 26 


INDEX 


271 


Martinsbruck, 111 
Medagues, 32 
Meiringen, 26 
Mentone, 13, 27, 29, 30 
Milan, 27, 199, 200, 257, 
264 

Monaco, 27, 31 
Mont Doi e, 32 
Monte Carlo, 13, 27, 30, 31 
Mont St. Michel, 72 
Morlaix, 18 
Moscow, 24 

Munich, 15, 26, 94, 152, 
153, 154, 157, 160, 163, 
198, 255, 256, 257, 258, 
264, 266 

Naples, 14, 18, 27, 81, 82, 

147, 200, 247, 252, 263, 
264 

Nauheim, 33 
Newcastle, 70, 262, 264 
Newhaven, 71, 263 
Newport, 249 
Nice, 13, 16,27, 31, 151 
Nuremberg, 26, 72, 247 

Orleans, 19 
Orvieto, 27, 229 
Ostend, 263, 264 
Oxlord, 16, 21, 24, 73, 
74, 142, 145, 156, 158, 
159, 259, 264 

Padua, 27, 257 
Palermo, 30 

Paris, 7, 8, 12, 17, 20, 21, 
22, 23, 27, 28, 32, 58, 
71, 72, 79, 92, 94, 95, 98, 
103, 107, 108, 123, 129, 
135, 142, 143, 145, 147, 

148, 149, 157, 161, 

163, 164, 167, 168, 172, 
175, 176, 178, 179, 182, 
189, 200, 201, 202, 203, 
205, 210, 213, 214, 218, 
239, 240, 241, 247, 248, 
251, 254, 255, 256, 257, 
258, 259, 263, 264, 265, 
266 


Pau, 16,30, 150 
Penzance, 16 
Perugia, 27 
Piraeus, 263 
Pisa, 27 
Plymouth, 264 
Pompeii, 27 
Port Said, 263 
Portsmouth, 249 
Prague, 25 


Queensboro, 263, 264 
Queenstown, 48, 105,262, 
264, L65 
Quevy, 109 


Rennes, 200, 203 
Rome, 13, 14, 17, 18, 27, 
112, 151, 168, 200, 210, 
247, 252, 255, 256, 257, 
258, 264, 266 
Rostock, 160 

Rotterdam, 24, 74, 113, 
210, 230, 263, 264 
Rouen, 28, 108, 247 
Roy at, 32 
Rugby, 250 


St. Cloud, 21 
St. Germain, I07 
St. Jean-du-Doigt, 18 
St. Malo, 71, 263, 264 
St. Nectaire, 32 
St. Nicolas-des-Eaux, 18 
St. Petersburg, 24, 70, 
115, 146, 211, 255, 256, 
257, 264, 266 
Ste. Marguerite, 32 
San Remo, 13, 14, 30 
Schaffhausen, 113 
Sestri, 31 

Seville, 16, 28, 150, 163, 
200, 256, 258 
Siena, 27, 163 
Signa, IS 
Sorrento, 27, 200 


Southampton, 11, 71, 94, 
122, 250, 262, 263, 264, 

265 

Stavanger, 70 
Stockholm, 70, 114, 211, 

266 

Stoke Poges, 245 
Stonistad, 114 
Storlim, 114 
Strasburg, 25, 113, 161 
Stratford, 250 


Tangier, 28 
Tiverton, 94 

Tours, «5, 144, 163, 165, 

251 

Trent, 26 
Trieste, 266 
Trondhjem, 70 
Tunis, 16, 28 
Turin, 24, 32, 95 


Venice, 13, 14, 19, 26, 27, 
112, 151, 152, 199, 200, 
202, 205, 247, 248, 252, 
256, 257, 258, 259, 264 
Ventimiglia, 14 
Verona, 27, 151 
Versailles, 21, 253 
Vevey, 26 

Vienna, 9, 14, 15, 22, 25, 
26, 94, 129, 147, 157, 
162, 163, 172, 211, 255, 
256, 264, 266 
Villefranche, 150 
Vitre, 72 


Waterloo, 204, 253 
Weimar, 168 
Winchester, 249, 250 
Windsor, 73 


York, 146, 264 


Zermatt, 26 
Zurich, 15, 163 


TRAVELERS' DIRECTORY. 


These announcements have been requested by the author of this 
book because he believes that much information they contain will 
be helpful to European tourists. Of course he has no personal 
acquaintance with all the advertisers nor with everything they 
offer, and he cannot undertake to vouch for them, but it is per- 
missible to say that the list has been selected with an eye to the 
benefit of the reader, and that nothing is here presented that has 
not a reasonable likelihood of being worth the attention of a 
traveler. 

The copyright of the volume covers the contents of this Direc- 
tory. 

For the privilege of inserting cards in subsequent annual edi- 
tions, address the publishers. 


BICYCLE EQUIPMENTS. 

Chain Lubricant. 

Make sure before you start on a European tour that your tool 
bag contains a tube or stick of the best lubricant, Dixon’s, for you 
may not be able to get it abroad. The best saves muscle enough 
to warrant a little forethought. Send 15 cents for a tube or a 
stick, but you would better provide two or three. Jos. Dixon 
Crucible Co., Jersey City, N. J. 

Handy Luggage Carrier. 

This is an adjustment to the saddle-post of your bicycle, for se- 
curing a satchel or any other parcel where it will be well balanced. 
Made from steel wire it weighs less than three ounces and is 
highly ornamental. For sale by dealers, or it will be sent by mall 
on receipt of the price, 35 cents. Address, Charles H. Rutherford, 
12 Gold Street, New York. 

Three in One. 

The most necessary article is a good supply of “3 in 1,” 
an oil that will not gum under any circumstances. Lubri- 
cates chain, bearings and all points of friction. Cleans 
and polishes entire wheel. Prevents all the metal parts 
from rusting. To be had at all dealers in the United 
States. London office, 6 Victoria Avenue, Bishopsgate 
Street, Without. Paris office, 8 Rue Ste. Cecile. 

CABLES. 

Adams Cable Codex. 

The most complete publication of its kind issued for circulation 
among travelers, and contains over 200 pages of sentences espe- 
cially adapted to the general requirements of those who travel for 
either business, health or pleasure or for commercial purposes. 
Price, in cloth, 50 cents. By mail, 4 cents extra for postage. 
Published by F. O. Houghton & Co., European Passenger Agents, 
115 State Street, corner Broad, Boston, Mass. 



EXPRESS. 

Pitt & Scott, 12 Water Street, Boston. 

New York, 39 Broadway; London, 25 Cannon Street, E, C., 25 
Regent Street, S. W. ; Liverpool, 4 Redcross Street; Paris, 47 Rue 
Cambon; Hamburg, 25 Dovenfieth. Agencies throughout the world. 
We have extensive arrangements for the forwarding and storage 
of tourists’ baggage, etc., at the lowest rates. Baggage called for 
a^ lioieK’ '^nd railwny stations. Purchases may be sent to any 
office, where they will be stored till called for. Tariff of rates, 
and useiui noies for travelers mailed on application. 

HOTEL. 

Hoboken, N. J — Meyer^s Hotel, Third and Hudson 
' Streets. 

Within two minutes’ walk of the docks of the North German 
Lloyd, Hamburg-American, Holland-Ainerica and Scandinavian- 
Am'erican steamship lines. Also conveniently located to the docks 
of the American, Red Star, White Star, Cunard, French and other 
steamship lines sailing from New York. The largest and most 
modern hotel in the city, equipped with electric elevator and elec- 
tric light; steam heated. Rooms with bath room adjoining. Cuisine 
and service of the best. Rooms $1.00 a day and upward. 
European plan. 

LETTERS OE CREDIT AND CHEQUES. 

New York — American Express Co., 65 Broadway. 

Agencies in every American city, and in London, Liverpool, 
Southampton, Paris, Havre, Bremen and Hamburg. Issuing 
TRAVELERS CHEQUES which are practically certified cheques 
of this company, payable in gold or its equivalent by upwards of 
10,000 correspondents throughout the world. More available, eco- 
nomical and secure than any form of travelers credit. Each cheque 
has printed thereon the exact amount in foreign money which will 
be paid therefor in gold or its equivalent, without discount or com- 
mission. 

New York — Brown Brothers & Co., 59 Wall Street. 

Issue travelers and commercial credits available in all parts of 
the world. Buy and sell bills of exchange and cable transfers. 
Make arrangements for banks and bankers to draw their own 
bills of exchange on various centres abroad. Stocks, bonds and 
investment securities bought and sold. Special attention given to 
the collection of drafts. Issue certificates of deposit payable on 
demand or at a stated period, the latter at a fixed rate of interest. 
Accounts received on favorable terms. 

New York — Knauth, Nachod & Kuhne, 13 William Street, 
corner Beaver. 

Issue letters of credit for travelers, available throughout the 
world, and to those desiring to carry small amounts, traveler's 
cheques in dollars. Descriptive pamphlet, “Funds for Travelers,*’ 
mailed on application. Transfer money by mail, telegraph or cable 
to all parts of the world. Buy and sell foreign coin and bank 
notes. Deal in all securities. Members of New York Stock Ex- 
change. Custom House and forwarding service in special depart- 
ment. 

New York — KOUNTZE BROS., Bankers, Broadway and 
Cedar Street 

Issue letters of credit, available in all parts of the world, for 
use of travelers, tourists and those intending to visit the Paris 
Exposition. Drafts drawn on Great Britain, Ireland and the Con- 
tinent. Money transferred by cable and telegraph. Transact a 
general domestic and foreign banking business. 


New York— John Munroe & Co., 32 Nassau Street. 

Issue circular letters of credit for travelers’ use abroad, 
against cash or satisfactory guarantee of repayment. Exchange on 
London, Paris, Berlin, Zurich and St. Gall. Credits opened and 
payments made by cable. 

Boston — Brown Brothers & Co., 50 State Street. 

Issue letters of credit on Messrs. Brown, Shipley & Co., Lon- 
don, available everywhere, in sums to suit the traveler’s require- 
ments. Also international cheques in multiples of £5 (and the 
equivalent in European currencies), payable at their face value 
without any deduction, throughout Great Britain and the Con- 
tinent. Buy and sell Dills of exchange and telegraphic transfers 
on all parts of the world. For the special convenience of their 
customers Messrs. Brown, Shipley & Co. have recently opened an 
office in the West End of London at No. 123 Pall Mall, S. W. 

Boston — Kidder, Peabody & Co., 113 Devonshire Street. 

Travelers’ letters of credit on Baring Bros. & Co., Ltd., available 
in all parts of the world. 

PHOTOGRAPHY. 

Expodaks. 

An instrument for measuring the light. This being ascertained 
two slides are slipped, and you are immediately shown the expos- 
ure required with your camera for any subject, any plate or film, 
any. lens, stop or diaphragm, in any light. Invaluable to tourists 
in saving failures. Carried in the vest pocket. Price $1.85 on ten 
days’ trial. Send a postal for descriptive booklet which also gives 
valuable hints to the snapshotter. The Expodak Company, Char- 
lottesville, Va. 


SEASICKNESS PREVENTIVES AND REMEDIES. 
Bromo Soda. 

Seasickness, fatigue of travel, dyspepsia and headache cured by 
Warner’s Bromo Soda. It is a splendid remedy for nervousness of 
all kinds. Bromo Soda contains nothing whatever of a harmful 
character, and may be used with impunity. Carry your lithia 
water in your pocket by using Warner’s Lithia Water Tablets. 
Wm. R. Warner & Co., Philadelphia, New York, Chicago. Euro- 
pean agencies: P. Newbery & Sons, 27 and 28 Charterhouse Square, 
London; Pharmacie Swann, opposite Hotel Continental, Paris, and 
all leading pharmacies. 

Brush’s Remedy for Seasickness. 

Mr. Luce thinks there is no infallible cure for seasickness. We 
don’t. We can cite hundreds of travelers who will testify that 
they were kept from the misery by “Brush’s.” Send for some of 
their statements about it. Guaranteed perfectly harmless. Sold 
at $1 a bottle by American druggists generally and by T. Morson 
& Son, 124 Southampton Row, London, and Roberts & Co., 5 Rue 
de la Paix, Paris. Brush Chemical Co., 127 State Street, Boston. 

Ocean Comfort Tablets for Seasickness or Car-sickness. 

Will cure or prevent either seasickness or car-sickness. Are 
convenient to carry, easy and pleasant to take. No need of taking 
before embarking. Free from everything that depresses the heart’s 
action, and leaves you with a good feeling head. If you want to 
enjoy your trip try them. Many well-known travelers have used 
and recommend them. Ocean Comfort wms formulated and is sold 
<by L. H. Hammond, M. D., of Worcester, Mass. Price by mail, 50 
cents and $2.00. 


The Portsmouth ‘^Preston^’ Smelling* Salts. 

Invaluable for seasickness, car-sickness, headache 
and faintness. Portsmouth Salts are especially de- 
signed for travelers. The unique and original idea of 
the cap renders it possible to carry the package in 
the satchel without danger of leakage. Portsmouth 
Salts are sold on railroad trains and at leading stores 
throughout the United States, and ere long will be 
found all over the world. Price 25 cents. By the way, 
Preston’s Tooth Powder, Portsmouth Cold Cream and 
Portsmouth Violet Water are desirable traveling pack- 
ages. Write Preston of New Hampshire, Portsmouth, 
N. H. 

STEAMSHIP OFFICES AND AGENCIES. 

Cal Los Angeles — Hugh B. Rice, 230 So. Spring Street. 

Agent for the Oceanic steamship company; tickets to Japan, 
China, India, Honolulu, Samoa, New Zealand and Australia, and 
Around the World. Also passage for Europe secured by any of the 
leading lines. Los Angeles representative of Thos. Cook & Son, 
pioneers in the business of arranging personally conducted tours, of 
selling excursion tickets over all the world, and of aiding the in- 
dividual traveler with hotel coupons, banking facilities, etc. Send 
for itineraries and information. 

Conn. — New Haven — Bishop & Co., 702 Chapel Street. 

New Haven representatives of Cook’s Tours and direct agents 
for first-class lines, including American, Cunard, White Star, Red 
Star. Anchor. Allan, Holland-America, French, Hamburg and At- 
lantic Transport. Stateroom accommodations reserved in advance. 

;D. C. — ^Washington — E. F. Droop & Sons, 925 Pennsyl- 
1 vania Avenue. 

Agents for the Hamburg-Aiiierican, North German Lloyd, Hol- 
land-America, Anchor, Allan and Prince Lines, giving intending 
tourists a degree of choice that will enable each to suit his mode 
of crossing the ocean to his plans and preferences. Itineraries, 
cabin plans, sailing lists and rates on application. 

111. — Chicago — Hamburg- American Line, 159 Randolph 
Street. 

Largest steamship company in the world, with its best .boats 
running from New York to Hamburg, touching at Plymouth for 
London and Cherbourg for Paris. Newest steamers, elegant In 
appointments, unsurpassed in speed, service and comfort. Rates 
reasonable. Also boats on the southern route from New York to 
Italy, and excursion boats to the Orient, the North Cape and 
around the world. Send for particulars. 

Ky . — Louisville — Chas. L. Monsch, 28 and 29 American 
National Bank Building. 

Tickets at lowest prices to or from any part of Europe. Offi- 
cially appointed agent for the chief Atlantic steamship lines. Send 
for itineraries, cabin plans, rates, etc,, or suggestions about any 
trip that may be in mind. I guarantee that passengers doing busi- 
ness through my agency can secure rates equally as cheap, and 
general information regarding European travel equally as correct 
as through any other agency in the United States. 

La. — New Orleans — M. J. Sanders, Cotton Exchange 
Building. 

Agent for the West India and Pacific Steamship Company’s mail 
steamers, furnishing direct passenger service to Liverpool at re- 
duced rates. Excursion tickets by way of the West Indies, Span- 




ish Mam and Mexico, with stop-over privileges available for six 
months. The new steamers, “Atlantian” and “American,” five 
hundred feet long and nine thousand tons register, are now en- 
gaged in this service with the other well-known steamers of the 
line. Send for detailed information. 

Mass.— Boston— Thos. Cook & Sons, 332 Washington 
Street. 

Boston office of the best known tourist agency in the world, 
with an unequalled reputation for aiding travel, reducing its diffi- 
culties to the minimum and increasing its pleasures to the max- 
imum. Cook’s Excursionist, issued monthly, gives full details of 
numerous European tours, personally conducted, as well as of all 
the other facilities put at the service of those who travel in par- 
ties or independently. 

jMass — Boston — C. V. Dasey, 7 Broad Street. 

General Steamship Agency for the principal lines to Europe and 
all parts of the world. Boston representative of the Anchor 
Line, New York to Glasgow via Londonderry, the direct route 
to the North of Ireland and to Scotland, landing the tourist at the 
best place in Great Britain to begin sightseeing; excellent boats 
and moderate prices. Also Boston agent for the Clark Tours, 
among the best planned and most skilfully managed that are of- 
fered to the American public; send for pamphlets giving full 
details. 

Mass. — Boston — Donner & Co., 80 State Street. 

General agents for New England of the Hamburg-American 
Line, the biggest steamship company in the world, carrying cabin 
passengers by twin screw steamers exclusively, maintaining fast 
express service between New York and England, Prance and Ger- 
many. Also cruises to the Orient and the North Cape. No more 
elegant or luxurious steamers are afioat. 

Mass. — Boston — W. H. Eaves, 201 Washington Street. 

Agent for Atlantic Transport Line, Dominion, Cunard, Ameri- 
can, White Star, Red Star, Holland-America, and other first-class 
lines. Also New England agent for Gaze's Tours. High class, per- 
sonally conducted parties to Europe, the Orient and Round the 
World at frequent intervals. Programmes free. Also, Independent 
travel tickets for any desired tour throughout the world, hotel 
coupons, letter of credit, etc. Correspondence solicited. Tele- 
phone, Boston 3956. 

Mass*. — Boston — E. O. Houghton & Co., 115 State Street. 

General Steamship Agents. Company’s passenger oflice of the 
White Star Line, New York to Liverpool, via Queenstown; well- 
known boats of the first rank, and including the Oceanic, the 
largest steamer in the world. New England agency of the Hol- 
land-America Line, New York to Rotterdam via Boulogne; large 
new boats, favorites with the thrifty. Leyland Line, Boston to 
Liverpool; first cabin only at low rates. Steamers among the 
largest from Boston. 

Mass Boston — Gill & Lootz, 161 Milk Street. 

Agents for the Prince Line, from New York to Italy via the 
Azores, with comfortable steamers at low rates. Highly praised 
by people of moderate means who have used it for getting to and 
from Italy direct. The steamers are new, well fitted, and equipped 
with every requisite for making the ocean voyage enjoyable. 

Mass. — Boston — Leyland Line, 115 State Street. 

Leyland Line, Boston to Liverpool; first cabin at low rates. 
Steamers sail from Boston regularly. These new and immense 
steamships are among the largest vessels from Boston, with limited 
accommodations for first cabin passengers only. The staterooms 


are large and located on the upper decks. The splendid new 
steamer, “Winifredian,” 10,500 tons, 570 feet long, now in service. 
“Cestrian,” ‘•Armenian,” “Victorian,” 9,010 tons each. F. O. 
Houghton & Co., general passenger agents, 115 State Street, cor. 
Broad Street, Boston. 


Mass. — Boston — Alex. Martin, 99 State Street. 

Boston olEces of the Cunard Line, with an unparalleled record 
for freedom from accident. Among the weekly steamers from Bos- 
ton to Queenstown and Liverpool is the huge new twin-screw 
Ultonia, with superior accommodations on the upper deck for a 
limited number of third-class passengers only, at low rates. Ex- 
press steamers Campania, Lucauia, etc., between New York and 
Liverpool. Every tourist should send for a copy of the Cunard 
Passenger Log Book. 

Mass. — Boston — Maynard & Child, Biske Building, 89 
State Street. 

Boston office of the American Line, operated by the Interna- 
tional Navigation Co., the only line under the American flag; the 
famous steamers St. Paul, St. Louis, etc., sail weekly to South- 
ampton, calling at Cherbourg on the west-bound trip. Also the 
Red Star Line, from New York to Antwerp, furnishing the best 
access to Brussels, Cologne, the Rhine and Central Europe, as well 
as a convenient way of reaching Paris at reasonable cost. Ameri- 
can and Red Star Line tickets are interchangeable. 

Mass. — Boston — Richards, Mills & Co., 77 to 81 State 
Street. 

Boston headquarters of the Dominion Line, with the fastest 
boats between Boston and Liverpool, ranking with the finest of the 
New York fleet, giving New England people for the first time first- 
class accommodations, and enabling western tourists to see the 
most interesting American city on their way abroad. Sailings also 
from Portland in winter and from Montreal in summer. Send for 
descriptive matter. 


•Mass Worcester — 0. F. Bawson, 391 Main Street. 

Passages secured, cabin plans and all information furnished. 
Agent for Cunard, White Star, American, Dominion, French, 
Anchor, Allan, Hamburg, North German Lloyd, Holland and all 
other Atlantic lines. Worcester representative of Henry Gaze & 
Sons, engaged for more than half a century in operating high class 
personally conducted tours. No one contemplating a trip abroad 
should fail to examine the Gaze itineraries, which will be given 
on application. Special trips to the Paris Exposition. 


Mich. — Detroit — James Rhines, No. 1 Detroit Opera 
House Block. 

Union Ticket Office. Passage by any class secured on any trans- 
Atlantic line, at rates the same as those prevailing in the main 
offices of the companies. Why not save time and bother by con- 
sulting in regard to all possibilities at the same time? Printed 
Information concerning any route. 

Minn St. Paul — John G. Allen, 173 E. Third Street. 

General Steamship Agent. Steamship tickets by any of the well- 
known lines to and from all parts of the world. Cabin berths re- 
served. Passports secured. Foreign exchange bought and sold; 
foreign drafts and money orders issued. European consular and 
notarial documents prepared. General Northwestern Office of 
Elder, Dempster & Co.’s Beaver Line Royal Mail passenger steam- 
ships, sailing in the summer from Montreal, the most convenient 
sailing point for tourists from the Northwest; with weekly sailings 
to Liverpool, and also to Avonmouth, the most convenient port 
tor ^Vest of England passengers. 


Mo. — St. Louis — M. Jacoby, 515 Pine Street. 

General European Steamship Ticket Agency. Save time and 
trouble by calling at one place for information about all routes, 
rather than take a whole morning to interview separate agents and 
get no more reasonable rates or no more copious information. 

N. Y. — Brooklyn — Julius Lehrenkrauss & Sons, 379 
Pulton Street. 

Brooklyn General Steamship Agency for the North German 
Lloyd, Hamburg-American, German Mediterranean Service, Ameri- 
can, Red Star, French, Holland-America, Allan State and Thing- 
valla Lines, and Thos. Cook & Sons’ famous tours. Letters of 
credit issued, guaranteed by Ladenburg, Thalmann & Co., of New 
York. Drafts and cable payments to all parts of the world. 
Foreign money, postage and revenue stamps bought and sold. 
A large supply of bank-notes, gold and silver always on hand. 
Passports obtained within forty-eight hours of making application. 

N. Y. — Buffalo — J. W. Klauck, 64 Exchange Street. 

Steamship agency established in 1860. Passage tickets to all 
parts of Europe, also tours around the world. Choice berths and 
stateroom secured on all steamships to and from Europe. Cabin 
plans on file, of the entire ocean fieet, including all coastwise 
steamers. Direct wire from this office. Passports secured. Tele- 
phone Seneca 1071. Address, 64 Exchange Street, Buffalo, N. Y. 

Ohio — Cleveland — Henry Lewis, 331 Superior Street. 

World Tourist office established in 1876. Representative of the 
Cunard, Hamburg-American, Old Inman, White Star, Red Star, 
American, Allan State, Anchor, French, Holland, Atlantic-Trans- 
port and all other first-class steamship lines crossing the At- 
lantic and Pacific Oceans. Staterooms can be selected and secured 
at same rates as quoted in the main offices of each steamship 
company. Conducted and independent international tours in 
Europe and throughout the world. Estimate and circulars at dis- 
posal of his patrons. 

Ohio — Cleveland — J. C. Wagner & Son, 180 Superior 
Street. 

Tickets to all parts of the world. Oldest established steamship 
agency in Cleveland. Representing North German Lloyd, Ham- 
burg, Cunard, White Star, American, Dominion and other lines of 
the first rank. Cleveland agents for Thos. Cook & Sons, origina- 
tors of the European tourist and excursion system, established 
1841. Send for particulars about hotel coupons, tours, or any 
other feature connected with foreign travel. 

Pa. — Philadelphia — George H. Stuart, Jr., 406 Walnut 
Street. 

Philadelphia office of the White Star Line of mail steamer# 
between New York and Liverpool, touching at Queenstown, long 
known as conspicuous for speed, safety, regularity and comfort. 
Sailings every Wednesday at noon. Agency Holland-America Line, 
New York, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Rotterdam. Full information on 
application. 

Pa. — Pittsburg — Max Schamberg & Co., 527 Smithfield 
Street. 

The oldest steamship and foreign banking business in the city of 
Pittsburg. Established 1866. Represent all lines to the Continent 
of Europe, sell letters of credit, drafts, cheques and^ foreign bank 
notes and make cable transfers. In direct account with banks and 
bankers in all parts of Europe. 


Tex. — San Antonio — C. Griesenbeck, Alamo Fire Insur- 
ance Building. 

Agency for the North German Lloyd Steamship Line, from 
New York for Bremen, touching at Southampton, where trains are 
in waiting to convey passengers to London, and at Cherbourg, 
where trains stand ready to take passengers to Paris. Also fur- 
nishing steamers for the popular Southern Route, from New York 
for Mediterranean ports, via Gibraltar, the best way to reach 
Spain, Italy, Algiers, or Egypt. Send for descriptive matter, 
cabin plans, etc. . 

Vt. — Burlington — W, B. Gates. 

Representing the American and Red Star Lines, operated by 
the International Navigation Company, the only company flying 
the American flag over trans-Atlantic passenger steamers. The 
famous American liners are among the fastest that go to South- 
ampton; the Red Star boats are the only ones going to Antwerp, 
and furnish an easy and economical way to reach Paris. Pull 
information and all classes of tickets may be obtained for all 
steamers. 

W. Va.— Wheeling— H. F. Behrens Co., 2217 Market 
Street. 

Ocean tickets to Europe by American, Red Star,* White Star, 
Hamburg-American, North German Lloyd, French, Anchor, Hol- 
land-America and Cunard Lines, — first, second or third class. 
Arrangements made if desired for joining personally conducted 
parties. Letters of credit issued. 

W. Va — Wheeling — J. G. Tomlinson, Agent Pennsylva- 
nia Lines. 

General Steamship Agency. American, Atlantic Transport, An- 
chor, Cunard, French, Hamburg-American, Holland-Am erica. 
North German Lloyd, Red Star and White Star Lines. Wheeling 
representative of Cook’s Tours, tickets for which are issued at a 
lump-sum price, covering all necessary expenses, and enabling the 
tourist to know beforehand just what his trip will cost him if 
advantage is taken of the facilities offered by the foremost tourist 
agency of the world. 

,P. Q Montreal — Elder, Dempster & Co., 6 St. Sacrament 

Street. 

The Royal Mail steamers of the Beaver Line sail weekly from 
Montreal for Liverpool when the St. Lawrence is opened, calling 
at Quebec and Rimouski for passengers and mails; and during the 
winter months from St. John, N. B., calling at Halifax, N. S., for 
passengers and mails. Also weekly service Montreal to Avon- 
mouth during the summer and fortnightly from Portland during 
the winter. Avonmouth is the most convenient route to west of 
England places. Reasonable rates, comfortable accommodations. 
Full information on request. Apply for same before deciding how 
you will travel. 

P. Q Montreal — W. H. Henry, 116 St. Peter Street. 

Steamship reservations and tickets by lines from Montreal, 
Boston and New York to Great Britain or the Continent direct. 
Time and perplexity saved by calling at one office where particu- 
iars of all routes can be had and unprejudiced advice given, rather 
than by visiting main oflGlces of steamship companies. Call or 
send for advice and facts about any route. 

TOUR MANAGERS. 

Bureau of University Travel, Ithaca, N. Y. 

Travel conducted on an entirely new plan. Small and carefully 
chosen parties conducted by university specialists. Lectures on 


history and art. Tours to the Orient and every part of Europe. 
Special arrangements for the Exposition and Passion Play greatly 
increasing the value of the visit. A special conductor in Paris 
throughout the season who has made a thorough study of it in 
all its details. Special art tours. Special tours for boys. All 
tours are based on a careful study of the country visited with a 
view to the tastes of the party. All tours involve something more 
than mere sightseeing. Correspondence, study in art and other 
subjects preparatory to travel to be inaugurated this year. 

(Dunning & Sawyer, 106 Congregational House, 14 Bea- 
i con Street, Boston, Mass. 

Foreign tours. Small parties conducted by university men. Cir- 
culars on application. 

European Tourist Co., 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. 

Select escorted tours visiting the chief cities of Europe at fre- 
quent intervals by popular steamers. Routes and rates to suit all. 
Prices inclusive. Cruises to Norway, the Land of the Midnight 
Sun, St. Petersburg, etc., in summer and to the Holy Land and 
Mediterranean ports in winter by our palatial, specially chartered 
steam yacht “Argonaut,” in connection with leading trans-Atlantic 
lines. Send^for illustrated program mentioning tour or cruise 
you wish to take. 

TBAVELERS' CONVENIENCES. 

Field Glasses. 

No other one luxury adds so much pleasure to travel as a pair 
of good field glasses. Many travelers, indeed, deem them more 
than a luxury,— a necessity. Our Zeiss stereo glasses afford optical 
powers hitherto unobtainable. Will go in the pocket. Send for a 
booklet to the manufacturers, Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, 
Rochester, N. Y. New York, Townsend Building, Broadway and 
25th Street. Chicago, Stewart Building, State and Washington 
Streets. 

Shaving Soap. 

Men would better lay in a stock of stick shaving soap before 
starting for Europe. You can buy the best — Williams’s — in Lon- 
don and Paris, but you may not find it so readily as here. Says 
one bicyclist: “I would gladly have given a dollar for a piece of it 
when I ran out of it in Brittany.” Be sure to get Williams’s, the 
kind that is soft to the skin. By mail, 25 cents. The J. B. Wil- 
liams Co., Glastonbury, Conn. 

Tooth Brush. 

The Prophylactic tooth brush will not’ always prevent seasick- 
ness, though in an unsolicited letter, an experienced traveler af- 
firmed that it did, but it is most essential for comfort and health. 
It is endorsed by the prominent dentists in Europe and by practi- 
cally every dentist in America. It will pay every traveler to read 
our valuable booklet on the teeth — sent free. No other tooth brush 
is like it. It is always sold in a yellow box— three sizes, adult, 
youth and child’s. Florence Mfg. Co., 153 Pine Street, Florence, 
Mass. 

THUNKS, BAGS, ETC. 


Tourists’ Outfits. 

All kinds of equipments for travelers kept in stock. Steamer 
trunks, dress suit cases, extension bags, bicycle frame bags, etc., 
of every variety and at prices to suit. Orders for shipping or re- 
pairing executed promptly. Rich, Reed & Atwood, 32 Federal 
Street and 135 Congress Street, Boston. 


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Brown Brothers & Co. 


...BANKERS... 

NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA BOSTON 


INTERNATIONAL CHEQUES 

Payable at their face value in European Currencies without 
deductionst throughout Great Britain and the Continent. 


LETTERS OF CREDIT 

Available everywhete on 

Messrs. Brown, Shipley 0 Co. 

LONDON 

Branch Office for the Convenience of Travellers at 

123 Pall Mall, S. W. 



